Motorcycles. Zombie Movies. Music. Guy Stuff.

An amazing blog a friend sent me, with photos from the Pacific WWII campaign and Pearl Harbor. Stunning, and horrific, these photos portray some of the devastation wrought by war.

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I worked last weekend removing whiterock from my Zen garden. I have a bench (that needs to be sanded and retreated) where I plan to sit and read. But the fist thing I have to do is get this area cleaned up, and then I’m going to put down some cedar mulch. My little dog is inspecting my work.

I still have a truck full of rock that I need to dispose of, and it’s supposed to rain this weekend. Things never go the way you plan. That’s the first lesson of my Zen garden.

Bill Cowher, seen with Ben Roethlisberger during Super Bowl XL, says the quarterback was well liked by his teammates. (Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)

Big Ben Roethlisberger is killing me slowly. Three years of off-the-field antics from this guy. First the motorcycle accident (a helmet would have prevented his injuries), then the girl in the hotel and finally the 20-year-old he allegedly raped (c’mon–if they say NO, it doesn’t matter when they say it: it means STOP!).

I saw this guy come onto the scene after choke-masters Kordell Stewart’s, and Tommy Maddox’s failed attempts at making the Steelers a legitimate Super Bowl contender (some Pittsburgh residents actually knocked over Maddox’s trashcans after a loss). I saw Ben take us to 15-1 his rookie season, and then the AFC Championship. Then I saw him win the Super Bowl in only his second year. Sure, people will tell you it was the Steelers’ defense, but that’s because these “fans” didn’t watch the Colts and Broncos games where Ben jumped the Steelers on top of both teams by chunking the football down field and shocking their respective defenses. Then in 2009 Big Ben drove the Steelers down the field to win ring number six by throwing a TD on the final play of the game. He is (was) a winner.

What happened? Arrogance? Youth? Is he bad on the inside? I don’t know. I can’t see inside Ben Roethlisberger’s soul. As a fan though, it hurts. My team may not win a Super Bowl for a while now; but most of all I feel bad for the women that Ben took advantage of. I ripped on Vick for his involvement with illegal gambling and dog fighting, and I’ll rip on Ben.

The NFL does NOT need this. Maybe they need to start thinking about the money they’re giving these young men. Maybe the League needs to start thinking about firing these guys permanently, not just dolling out weak suspensions.
The list is long of NFL players who have had brushes with the law. I think as spectators, we need to ask ourselves if this is the type of person we want to support. Yes, we support them by turning on the TV, going to the games, and wearing their names across our shoulders.

I, for one, am glad I never got that Roethlisberger jersey. Maybe I’ll go out and get a Sidney Crosby sweater instead.

I’ve been to both coasts and all over Dallas in the past eight years, trying out sushi places. San Francisco had the number one spot until I heard about a tiny place in Denton, TX called Keiichi (named after the owner/chef).

Keiichi’s restaurant is in a tiny spot that, I believe, used to be a used car lot. It’s a small, unassuming (there’s barely even a sign out front) brown building. The interior feels like you’ve stepped into Keiichi’s home. There is a u-shaped sushi bar where Keiichi works, a room with a large table, and a bar area that might hold four or five people if some are standing up.

First tip: make a reservation. You will not be served if you try to walk in. The reason is: he plans his fish purchase by how many people he will have. In fact, sometimes if he’s busy he’ll run out of things. But don’t worry, if you ask, Keiichi will pick something not on the menu for you. One time, we let him pick everything for us and it was amazing.

So, plan ahead and come with a full wallet. The price may seem steep for those used to places with lunch specials and bento boxes, but once you taste the sushi you’ll forget all about it.

This outing we went all in to celebrate our anniversary. We had both the sea trout appetizer, and the beef appetizer. As hard as I tried I couldn’t eat slowly enough. I ended up wolfing down my food as I attempted to savor each bite.

For our main course we had: salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and snow crab sushi; eel, and salmon skin rolls; and finally two types of sushi that Keiichi picked for us. I still have no idea what those were, but they were delicious.

If the food isn’t enough to make you go wild, you will certainly find the ambiance refreshing. It’s not hurried, or crowded; and Keiichi makes you feel like you’re his personal guest. The interaction between him and the people at the sushi bar is a show in itself. He jokes and talks and smiles, and soon you find yourself having conversations with everyone at the sushi bar. There was great laughter as Keiichi explained to one guest that the clam is, in fact, alive when you eat it.

Keiichi is also trained in Italian cuisine—odd I know. But one day I’ll try one of his noodle dishes. That is, if I ever tire of the sushi!

I love going to the gym on Saturdays. It’s usually completely empty and I can have my pick of the machines and weights. It was a gorgeous day out, so everyone was probably at the Jazz Festival. This also meant my favorite bar was less crowded, and I ended up drinking enough whiskey to undo the hour and a half I spent burning calories at the gym.

The gym overlooks a lake near our house. Running on the treadmill with the glistening water in front of me really helps my mood. There’s also a 1/4-mile trail that goes around the lake, but I like running inside for some odd reason.

I can’t seem to stop myself. I want a new motorcycle. There’s nothing at all wrong with the one I have, but it’s not big enough and not new enough. I keep telling myself that the joy is in the wanting, but that only lasts for so long. I spend every Saturday making up excuses to go to either the Harley shop or the Yamaha shop or the Kawasaki shop. I’m sure the salespeople are sick of seeing me and getting the “nah, I’m just daydreaming” routine.

I have three bikes in mind, and all three of them are beyond my current financial means.

1. Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Classic LT

2. Yamaha Road Star

3. Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic

Not sure if it’s going to happen, or if it’s in my pipe dream world (like moving to California).

I released a my third Gentoo album titled “The City Came to Me in a Dream” last year. This album is a little more sorrowful than “The Dragon”. It was written during a very dark time of my life when things weren’t going so well with my job situation, and I was moving on. Like the other two Gentoo albums, it was theme-based. The theme was travel and, more importantly, escape.

There are a couple of “happy” songs on the album as things began to ease up in my life. To be honest, these are my least favorite tracks. I’m one of those artists who thrives on sadness. The more depressed I am, the better art I make. I once spent an entire summer painting voraciously in my bathroom. I created about 20 different paintings, all because I was severely depressed. This is the same year that produced my first album “Hyoshi” and a couple of ComfortLevel7 EPs.

I’m not saying that I want to be depressed, but I’m usually happy with what comes out of me during those episodes.

Buy album

The trend these days is to move Websites in a fresh new direction. People want more than a Flash intro, or a list of products & services. People want an experience, and they also want to experience the world through someone else’s eyes.

The Web is a living-breathing entity now with personality and “flavor”. So where does this take us? Well I think it’s going to take us into a world where people interact in ways never before dreamed. We’re already seeing that with social media networks like Facebook Second Life and Twitter.

We’re becoming a larger whole. Each arm is extending out to feel, and to sense what is out there. Our neighbors now are in other cities, states or countries. We’re realizing why anthropologists discovered basket weaving on different continents. We’re all common. We’re all human.

Now what will we do with this?