John Beck

Oh Lord! On Friday I went to Cablevision and picked up a HD DVR box. I hooked it up to my old 27” CRT. Just having a HD box improved the picture. Today I got a brand new Samsung 32” HD TV. It’s incredible! I’m currently watching the Yankees game on YES HD. I’m blown away by how great the picture looks. I also have it connected to my surround sound system.

The Cablevision box is going to take some getting used to. I found that some HD channels aren’t coming in though. It’s just a black screen. Anybody know anything about that? Speed HD is one of them. Some of the channels just say “Initializing Channel” just for a message to come up saying it’s “currently unavailable”. Will these just work one day? Also, is there a way that I can block channels that I don’t subscribe to? Block them from channel up and down and block them in the guide itself. It’s annoying scrolling through the guide and seeing all of these channels that I don’t subscribe to. Channeling up and down and getting stuck on one is annoying too cause it has to load a screen that says I don’t get it.

Last night was the Depeche Mode and Peter, Bjorn and John concert at the Borgata in Atlantic City. This had to have been the hottest indoor concert I’ve ever been to. I’m talking temperature hot and because of that it appeared that the Depeche Mode set was unusually short and I was dying in there so I was completely OK with them cutting it short. Luckily the security detail occasionally handed out small bottles of water to the folks directly against the rail where we were. Folks more than 3 rows deep however didn’t get any. Then again, the fans against the rail by the stage were in line for over 5 hours before even getting into the arena. Below is a picture of me at the front of the line.

With that said, Depeche Mode were great as always. My sister was completely gushing whenever Dave did his sexy gestures and grinds. She got so excited. She’ll deny this of course and say he’s not her type or something like that. That’s a lie though. Martin looks older and older while Dave gets better looking.

The opening act was great. I’ve been a fan of Peter, Bjorn and John’s for a while but this is my first time seeing them live. Peter was so fun up on stage. Even off the stage when he lunged into the crowd directly in front of us while singing “Young Folks”. Of course he couldn’t get back on the stage, it was kinda sad but cute and funny at the same time. We all agreed that Peter would make an excellent play pal for Jen and Chris’s 17 month old son Giovanni. I’ll have to email him to see if he’s free.

It was a great concert, it also helped that before the show started I won $100 on the slots. It was a good night.

I’m seeing Depeche Mode with Peter, Bjorn and John tonight at the Borgata in Atlantic City. I’m very excited! I love both bands! This is my 3rd time seeing Depeche Mode at the Borgata, my 14th time seeing them overall. Yea, I like them a lot!

Gosh, I love NetFlix streaming. I just wish I had a better internet connection so that I can get better looking video quality. Last night I brought my laptop out back and streamed The Ten off of NetFlix’s site. I smoked a Drew Estate Root that I had aging in my humidor for years now and I drank some Maker’s Mark bourbon. It was a good night, albeit a little on the warm side.

I finally got a chance to use the picnic basket that I had mentioned earlier. Last night Dana and I went on a picnic together. It was excellent. I threw out my nice plaid blanket. We loaded up the basket with delicious healthy foods and I brought a bottle of cabernet and a bottle of water. I dressed up but not too fancy, I wore my new Montecristo/Panama hat. Dana took some pictures, maybe she’ll post them to Facebook or something. We went to Sayen Gardens, very nice and relatively quiet location. You can see the envy on the few passerby’s faces. It was a beautiful evening.

Afterwards we went to a tattoo art show at Artworks in Trenton. The show was small and I felt out of place because I didn’t have a black t-shirt on with a devil on the front. Regardless, there was some interesting art and it wasn’t too far away.

I can hardly wait for the next picnic though. I have a sweet radio coming this week to bring along with me. It’s going to be super awesome. Dana and I will be credited for the rebirth of old fashioned picnics.

Earliest this week Dana and I saw the film MOON. It’s only been a few days but the more I think about it the more and more I like this film. Everything about this film is great. The music is awesome, the lighting is awesome and the acting is great. I was following the trailers since the first one became available and thought it looked great but I was surprised that the trailers really didn’t show much as to what the movie is really about. I really wish I could talk about it more but I’d hate to ruin it. But if you’re a fan of sci-fi mysteries then this one is a must-see. Great film.

My grandmother passed away this past Sunday.

Julia A. Giovannetti Beck

PRINCETON – Julia A. Giovannetti Beck of Princeton entered into God’s Care Sunday in the University Medical Center at Princeton, with her family by her side.

Born in Trenton, Julia was a lifelong Trenton/Hamilton area resident before moving to Princeton in 2005. Julia was a homemaker, who enjoyed cooking, spending time with her family and visits from her lifelong friend, Lucia. Predeceased by her parents, Fanny and Carl Giovannetti; her brother Don; three sisters, Mary, Helen and Laura; her husband, John D. Beck, Sr., and her son, James Beck, she is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, John & Susan D. Beck, Jr. of Yardville; two sisters, Margaret Fabiano and Ann Trippo; three grandchildren, John P. Beck, Jennifer Lucania, her husband Christopher, and Michael Beck, son of James Beck; also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 18, 2009 at Chambers D´Errico and Correnti Funeral Home, 825 Chambers St., Trenton. Burial will follow. Calling hours will be from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at the funeral home.

I had off from work for the past week, here’s just some of the things that I did, in order:

Watched the Subway 250 at Daytona, Rock Band, went to Jen and Chris’s for Independence Day, watched the Coca-Cola Zero at Daytona, spectacular wreck coming to the checkered, Ryan Newman finished 20th, watched the Yankees, watched Jarhead, watched more Yankees, visiting my grandmother at Princeton Hospital, boo, Dr. House was off that day, boo, went to see The Hangover with Dana, yay! met the guys for a beer at Jo Jo’s, painted, Rock Band, watched more Yankees, watched Deadliest Catch, visited James and Jane in Long Branch, went to WindMill Hot Dogs, went to Lighthouse for water ice, watched more Yankees, watched Vincent & Theo, painted, went to the Freedom Fest Fair at the Horse Park of New Jersey, watched the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland, Ryan Newman finished 22nd, Rock Band, watched the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland, Ryan Newman finished 6th, watched the Yankees, bad news, grandmom Beck died today, boo, smoked a Macanudo Portofino that I’ve had in my humidor for about 5 years and drank some Maker’s Mark to honor grandmom, watched Howl’s Moving Castle, watched the new Entourage.

Today I just hung around and cleaned, put some stuff into storage and painted more, tonight I’ll finish off my “vacation” with the guys at Jo Jo’s Tavern. I’ll see you there!

R.I.P. Julia Beck