Noodlecat

Jonathon Sawyer is one of the names keeping Cleveland on the culinary radar. His restaurants receive accolades from publications like Bon Appetit and Food & Wine magazine, and the chef has made appearances on Iron Chef on The Food Network. Noodlecat is the fusion ramen project from Team Sawyer. Since the restaurant is looking into opening a location in central Ohio, I decided to check out the West Side Market location and get a sneak preview while in Cleveland.

While ramen shops often offer little in the way of choices for meatless diners, Noodlecat has plenty of options for vegetarians and vegans. The menu is coded to mark vegetarian dishes. There are vegetarian ramen bowls, salads and meatless bao sandwiches. Vegan items had to be requested at the counter, but could be accommodated. The menu is a Yankee take on traditional Japanese noodle houses with a focus on local ingredients.

The smoked tomato coconut curry udon possessed notes that were both Japanese and Thai. The kombu broth suspended udon noodles, poached tofu, bamboo, scallions, potatoes and roasted sesame seeds. The understated base was mildly spicy, and the richness was a perfect vehicle for the wheat noodles and the crunchy veggies.

The veggie bao was stuffed with sprouts, mushrooms, cucumber, carrots, radishes and red onions. The soft roll had a nice coating of a sweet hoisin-like sauce. 

The sit-down restaurant has an expanded menu with more choices than the West Side Market stall. Both locations are worth checking out. I plan on frequenting the Columbus Noodlecat if and when it opens.

Rishi Sushi

Rishi Sushi is the latest concept from David and Song Kim, who also own Moshi Sushi in Bexley. Rather than a straight down the middle sushi bar, Rishi is more of a small plates concept with interesting fusion dishes with one foot in Japan.

The restaurant has a focus on fresh, local ingredients. There are vegetarian and gluten free items identified on the menus. 

The sushi menu has pretty standard vegetarian offerings. In addition to meatless starters and salads, there is a veggie burger and a couple of generous vegetarian ramen bowls.

The edamame hummus is plated with cucumber, carrots and rice crackers. The dish creates a subtle harmony between the essence of Asia and the spirit of the Mediterranean.

While sushi is featured in the restaurant's name, the ramen is a real star. Bowls are piled with a vegetable broth, fresh ramen noodles, edamame, corn, scallions, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, spinach, bok choy and seaweed. While the Lazy Summer Day is deeply satisfying, masochists can also inflict the Good Luck Ramen challenge, made with scorpion peppers, upon themselves.

The bar has excellent cocktails and a decent beer and wine selection to accompany the food coming out of the kitchen. There is a happy hour menu with sushi, small plates and drink specials. 

Sin City sweets

Las Vegas is a place that profits from the sale of pleasure. It is like a 21+-version of Disney World, hawking sex, gambling, drinking, gluttony and other excessively hedonistic behaviors that would get you kicked out of your local religious youth group.

The food in Las Vegas is designed to blow your mind - or at least make you forget that you lost a bunch of money at the tables. After a hedonistic afternoon and a good meal, epicureans might also take pleasure in dessert. Sin City is full of great desserts that fit right in with the background of over-consumption.

Sweets Raku is hidden in a Chinatown strip mall. The only signage is a giant silver spoon on the outside wall. It makes dessert for Raku, the izakaya recommended by every chef, host and random celebrity that visits Las Vegas.

Chef Mitsuo Endo's restaurant offers single desserts and small three course dessert tasting menus. It seats eight to ten people, and the theater that is the composition of each dish is a sight to behold.

Even the menu is edible. After ordering, the sugar-string wrapped menu could be dipped in raspberry sauce and eaten.

The Mt. Fuji roasted chestnut creamcake with chestnut 'grass' and chestnut wafers is nearly too beautiful to eat. The strands of chestnut grass, fed through a pastry tube with multiple holes so that it coats the base like pasta noodles, carry a beautiful roasted essence that lingers on the palate. 

Haute pastry can be found all over the Strip. Last time I was in town, I stopped at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery in the Venetian. It is great for breakfast baked goods - or sweets any other time of the day.

If you are aiming for big names in pastry, there are few names as famous as Francois Payard. His career in New York City involved stints at Le Bernardin and Restaurant Daniel. His patisserie in Caesar's Palace makes macarons to die for, and the brunch seems to be merely a precursor for an inevitably sweet conclusion.

Jean-Philippe Maury, the pastry chef of the Bellagio, has a patisserie in both Bellagio and Aria. There is a chocolate river in the Bellagio location. 

The playful takes on Snickers was a chocolate mousse with a rich nougat ribbon topped with pink sea salt flecked roasted peanuts. It was rich with a layered flavor.

There are plenty of options available for reasonable prices as well. The hot Vegas sun makes Luv-It Frozen Custard a useful destination to find to cool off. Located just off Las Vegas Boulevard Downtown, the custard shop has four flavors a day. Two are the normal chocolate and vanilla, and the other two rotate daily.

The Western sundae is the signature order. It is topped with hot fudge, caramel, pecans and a cherry. The custard is a slightly richer base to deliver these classic ingredients. A $5.75 sundae is huge - it's easy to share.

Ronald's Donuts in Chinatown is a great spot for vegans. Half of the donuts are vegan. The staff pointed out that the top shelf was vegan while the bottom shelf was not. Despite the vegan wrinkle, the shop is full of old timers and kids wasting time, as well as a few police - the hallmarks of a good donut shop in any place in America, vegan or not.

The apple fritter was sweet, soft and studded with cinnamon and sugar. The vegan cream donuts were rich enough that it seems impossible they were made without eggs. The options at Ronald's are pretty middle of the road in terms of adventurousness, but it does score points with the low-key vegan options.

Also on the list of had-to-do-it-because-I-heard-about-it: the cupcake ATM outside Sprinkles Cupcakes at the Linq. The cupcake didn't particularly stand out, but there is a great novelty to watching a camera arm grab a cupcake that you paid for on your credit card, delivered from an opening like a sugar shot. It is ironic to spend  money at an ATM, but I guess you can think of it as a tasty banking fee.

Fusian

Fusian is a small fast-casual sushi spot that opened up on campus. It's a small chain currently with three locations in Ohio. Diners can pick a variety of ingredients and have a maki roll prepared for them. 

In addition to the amply portioned sushi rolls, there are a variety of vegetarian friendly side dishes at Fusian. Everything served can be eaten in the fun dining space.

Veggie rolls can be made with vegetables including carrot, cucumber, avocado, asparagus, green onion and jalepeño peppers, as well as roasted tofu. There are also sauces including wasabi mayo, sweet chili and spicy may. The tofu added a nice texture but little flavor to the dish. The veggies were fresh, with many sourced from Ohio. The wasabi mayo was a little thin and lacked the spicy punch I was expecting.

The spicy edamame was delightful. The hot soybeans were dressed in a delightfully sweet chili garlic sauce that exploded with flavor. 

The cucumber salad had a clean essence that hinted at an Asian cole slaw. The subtle rice wine vinegar brightened the dish.

I'm not sure if the PB&J roll is for kids or dessert. Either way, I want to try it.

Maki Go

Maki Go is a new build-your-own sushi roll spot in Downtown Columbus. They have been operating under soft open status for the past week. Like most sushi restaurants, there are a limited number of vegetarian options. By allowing customers to customize ingredients in the sushi, however, Maki Go is an easy choice for vegetarian and vegan diners.

Rolls can be wrapped in nori or soy paper with white or brown rice. The vegetarian protein is a steamed salt and pepper tofu with a subtle flavor that amplifies spices. Other ingredients include cucumber, avocado, green onion, romaine lettuce, jalepeño salsa, panko bread crumbs, cream cheese, and sauces including sriracha, spicy mayo and a slightly creamy wasabi dressing. 

The price for the roll is reasonable, although a side dish like the edamame would be recommended to put together a full-sized lunch. I could pretty easily eat two of the tofu rolls, and maybe more if you dared me.

The miso soup is not vegetarian-friendly as it is made with seafood. The staff was friendly and readily answered questions about ingredients. 

It's a little tricky to find Maki Go from its signage. The awning reads Bistro 8, and there is a paper print-out in the window for Maki Go. There is limited seating for about 15 inside, and the concept is set up for take-out. 

Section 8 Yakitorium

Section 8 Yakitorium is another concept from Kenny Kim and Misaka Ohba, the folks who brought you Fresh Street. It is the kitchen of a Brewery District bar called Double Happiness, and although the focus of the restaurant is grilled meat skewers, Section 8 Yakitorium has great options for vegans and vegetarians alike.

Skewers are grilled over a special Japanese charcoal. Vegetarian skewers include green onions, okra, tomatoes and enoki mushrooms.

The green onions had a fresh, sweet flavor. The okra picks up layers of nuanced smoke, and the grill eliminates any slimy characteristics that sometimes plague the vegetable.

The mushrooms have a subtle flavor. They ended up crispy on the corners and soft and moist in the middle.

The cabbage pancakes, called okonokiyaki, can be prepared for vegetarians, but it must be requested this way as they traditionally contain fish sauce. This was easily the best thing I tasted. The texture was perfectly crunchy, and the sweet soy marinade shines on this delicious dish.

The pickled vegetable rice dish was a nice winter warmer. This was a special item, and seasonal menu choices could change regularly.

There is an understated decor at Double Happiness. The bar serves a limited selection of drafts and about 20 bottled beers, sake and sake cocktails, and liquor, including cool labels like the Suntory Yamazaki 12 year Japanese whisky.

The staff did a great job with vegan and vegetarian concerns. Section 8 Yakitorium is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 or 2 a.m.

Stix

Stix is a small Pan-Asian chain in Alabama. There are five or six locations in the state. I visited the Stix in Spanish Fort.

The menu at Stix focuses on sushi and a combination of Japanese and Chinese appetizers, stir fries and noodle dishes.

The veggie sushi platter was overflowing with maki rolls. The roll in the center of the platter was prepared with asparagus, pickled squash, carrot and green bean. The avocado rolls were flecked with black and white sesame seeds. The sushi was visually appealing, even though some of the longer vegetable cuts were less than elegant.

The Szechuan tofu had an aggressive spice that the bean curd drank up. The peapods, carrots and onions were cooked crispy enough to retain the freshness of these vegetables. Stir fries are served with choice of white or brown rice.

Although the server was being trained during my visit, she delivered capable and friendly service. The bar has a full selection of beer, wine and faux-tini cocktails.

Stix

Royal Ginger Asian Fusion Bistro

Royal Ginger is a sushi-centric Asian fusion spot located in the old Wolfgang Puck's in Upper Arlington. It is a similar concept to its relative Blue Ginger, another place I enjoyed on separate visits.

The restaurant interior is stylish with modern accents and a lot of dark wood. Service was efficient, and the server was able to address any and all vegetarian concerns.

The menu at Royal Ginger features numerous vegetarian options. There are multiple sushi choices and stir fried dishes without seafood and meat. Vegetarian spring rolls, edamame, peanut noodles and a few salads are available as starters.

There is a lunch special with a choice of vegetarian soup or salad and an entree for about $9. The salad was made with multicolored greens, onions and daikon in a fruity vinaigrette. It had soft and crispy textural accents that made the salad delightful to eat.

The vegetarian sushi at Royal Ginger is excellent. The vegetarian sushi combo is very similar to the one at Blue Ginger. The artful nigiri are topped with carrots, squash, asparagus and various other ingredients (vegan or ovo-vegetarian warning: the platter also has tomago, a nigiri egg roll. It may be omitted on request). The combo also comes with a few maki rolls containing avocado, asparagus and Japanese squash.

I ordered the veggie roll, which also is available with special lunch pricing. The uramaki veggie rolls were the aforementioned ones with the squash, asparagus and avocado. The menu at Royal Ginger features many other vegetarian options, including interesting options like peanut avocado and fried bean curd skin.

The black bean tofu was stir fried with long beans, red onions and shiitake mushrooms in a spicy Szechuan base. The earthy, spicy dish has a great flavor, and the serving size is fair. It comes with a choice of white or brown rice.

Royal Ginger has a decent list of beer, wine, sake and designer faux-tinis. The parking lot is small and poorly designed, so parking can sometimes be an issue.

Royal Ginger

Moshi Sushi Bar

Moshi is an upscale sushi joint in Bexley that offers contemporary takes on rolls as well as Pan-Asian fare from Korea, Thailand and Japan. It adds a nice touch to the Bexley dining scene.

This restaurant is a collaboration between Bexley resident Moshe "Moshi" Mizrachi and the father-and-son team of Song and David Kim. It gives Bexley a modern Asian spot in a similar style to Lemongrass or Nida's in the Short North.

The staff at Moshi Sushi Bar addressed vegetarian concerns appropriately. The menu doesn't have piles of vegetarian options, but there is enough variety to give diners different options.

The miso soup is vegetarian, prepared without bonito. There are about five different vegetable sushi rolls, a couple of salads, a tofu steak and a few meatless noodle dishes.

The miso soup has a deep green color that hides an unctuous, savory character. Small pieces of tofu pick up the flavor of the broth and the fresh scallions.

The fried tofu is served with a sweet hoisin sauce and an herbal-infused soy dip. Half of the tofu cubes are fried crispy without breading, and the other half are tempura battered with a crunchy panko coating. The hoisin-based sauce adds a great barbeque flavor to the dish.

The sushi rolls are artfully prepared. Vegetarian options include some of the usual suspects (avocado rolls and cucumber rolls) as well as some rolls with more complex groupings of ingredients. The veggie roll had cucumber, asparagus, carrots and kombucha squash. The O-H-I-O roll consists of avocado, cream cheese, fried sweet potato and asparagus fried in a walnut panko tempura with a sweet miso sauce.

The O-H-I-O roll was a great mix of flavors. The cream cheese and avocado add a rich, savory element to the sweet taste of the miso and potato. The crispy breading adds a great texture to the sushi roll.

The color of the veggie roll is striking. There is a rainbow of flavor accompanying its many shades. The smaller avocado roll was well-constructed if slightly uninspiring.

The decor at Moshi is modern and understated. Service was friendly and capable. There is a full bar with sake and cocktails.

While Moshi is excellent with a number of vegetarian options, be forewarned that it rates on the expensive end for sushi in the Columbus area.

Moshi Sushi Bar

Akai Hana

Akai Hana is a vegan-friendly Japanese restaurant in the Kenny Centre shopping center, located in the overlapping portions of Columbus and Upper Arlington. Sushi is the main attraction, but there are plenty of other soups, appetizers and entrees available for vegetarians.

The restaurant is tucked back into an unassuming plaza with an international flavor. There is an Asian market, an Indian restaurant, a Thai restaurant, a Middle Eastern bakery and a Japanese bakery within the plaza. Akai Hana is accessible from either of the two parking lots.

Vegetarian starters include edamame, an Asian cabbage salad, miso soup and tofu preparations including agedashi. The miso soup is traditionally understated, and the fresh scallions add a delightful crunch to the satisfying, salty soy broth (Special note: request a vegetarian miso soup; the normal version contains bonito flakes).

The agedashi tofu consists of large tempura-battered tofu cubes served in a seaweed/soy sauce base. The crispy skin and soft, almost molten tofu soak up the savory sauce upon which the cubes rest.

There are a number of different vegetable sushi rolls at Akai Hana. I sampled the garden roll, cucumber roll and avocado roll. The cucumber roll had a nice crunch. The avocado roll was rich and soft. The garden roll is a temaki roll filled with cucumber, carrot, lettuce and radish. It was aesthetically and gustatorily pleasant. The plating of the sushi rolls was very nice.

Lunch specials include miso soup and two rolls for $9 or three rolls for $12.50. Dinner prices are somewhat expensive compared to other sushi joints.

The decor is classic with modern accents. Service is prompt and efficient.

Akai Hana

Takashi

Takashi is a sleek, modern Japanese restaurant in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. While the place is noted for its sushi and ramen dishes, Takashi uses the same culinary dexterity to create vegetarian fare that can compete with anything else swimming across the menu.

Takashi has gotten a pile of good press in the last few years, from a three-and-a-half star rating in Chicago Magazine to a Tribune article where renowned culinary wunderkind Rick Bayless called Takashi's noodles the best ramen in the city. Takashi Yagihashi's tenure as a chef has seen him excel in Detroit, Las Vegas and Chicago, and he has previously been recognized by the James Beard foundation as the Best Chef in the Midwest.

The menu is short on vegetarian options. However, because the kitchen is a wellspring of talent, it bends over backward to accommodate vegetarians.

The bread was outstanding. The multigrain bread and sourdough were both exceptionally satisfying.

I started with the chilled homemade tofu. If you request that they hold the bonito flakes, the dish is a vegan preparation. The tofu is boiled and served at a cool temperature with a creamy texture. The accompanying scallions, oba leaves, seaweed and ginger soy sauce add a variety of flavors and textures to a deeply complex dish.

The vegetarian dish was prepared with a fresh market selection of the chef's choosing. There were two deep fried risotto and cheese balls, a corn and black bean cake, pickled cabbage, and a myriad of other cooked veggies and sauces. The entree was a fantastic international combination that performed together in amazing unified precision.

Takashi has a wine list that pairs well with its menu as well as an esoteric and exotic cocktail menu. Service was prompt, attentive and well paced.

Takashi

Haiku

My plan was to hit up Haiku this week to take advantage of 614 Restaurant Week. Unfortunately for me, Haiku chose not to participate in Restaurant Week for lunch. Neither Haiku nor 614 Magazine listed this detail on their Web sites, but I did fine paying full price anyway. I'll chalk it up to bad work by their PR staffs.

Haiku is a sushi restaurant with a decent amount of vegetarian options on the menu. The biggest warning for vegetarians dining at Haiku is that the sushi bar absolutely stinks like seafood. If you are bothered by the smell of ocean life, either eat in the part of the restaurant away from the sushi bar or choose another restaurant altogether.

The decor in Haiku is a modern take on Zen style. The art work is modern and Western, but the tables and chairs are somewhat of an Eastern throwback.

The service staff is capable if somewhat inefficient. While the waiter properly addressed my vegetarian concerns, the meal was put together at a sluggish pace. The server could have been slightly more attentive about this issue. Overall, he did a decent job but needed a little more attention to detail.

I started with tofu lettuce wraps. The Korean classic, known as ssam, consists of finely cubed tofu and rice noodles cooked with spinach, onions and cabbage in a garlicky brown sauce wrapped in large green lettuce leaves. The dish is surprisingly filling with a satisfying flavor.

My main course was called Tao tofu. It featured steamed tofu and deep fried tofu stuffed with cucumbers, carrots and cabbage. It is plated with orange segments and a mildly sweet brown sauce. The citrus fruit actually adds an extra dimension to the flavor profile. While the fried tofu was delicious, the steamed tofu was silken, so it turned out soggy and flavorless. There is an option of getting all of the tofu fried, and that would be the best way to order this dish.

Other vegetarian items on the menu include a variety of veggie sushi rolls, edamame, wok-tossed mushrooms, vegetable tempura, spring roll salad, green salad, seaweed salad, vegetarian udon noodles, curry noodles, pad Thai and stir fried vegetables.

Haiku features a large selection of cocktails, sake, beer and wine. Prices for drinks and food are somewhat high but reasonable.

Haiku

Bento Go Go

Japanese establishments can sometimes be unfriendly to vegetarians. From sushi bars to steakhouses, Japanese food is not always tailor-made for those who don't eat animal flesh. Bento Go Go, however, breaks away from this limitation by featuring numerous plant-based dishes from the Land of the Rising Sun and other East Asian nations.

The menu has copious choices for vegetarians. Starters include edamame, veggie egg rolls, veggie tempura, salads and miso soup. There are numerous vegetarian noodle and rice dishes. There is also a vegetarian wrap.

The curried vegetable bowl was made with a vegan curry. Sticky white rice is topped with the mild brown curry sauce and broccoli, potatoes, onions, carrots and water chestnuts. The vegetables were flavorful. I might have liked the curry to have a little more spiciness, but overall, the dish was very satisfying.

The star at Bento Go Go is the sushi. The veggie rolls were made with lettuce, cucumber, avocado, burdock, kampyo squash and pickled radish. The rolls were large and well constructed. The flavor was rich with an intensely vegetal undertone.

There is a vegetarian sushi special available as a bento box combination. Bento boxes are essentially Japanese lunch boxes. The box comes with a choice of sides including kimchi and Korean potatoes.

At night, Bento Go Go transforms into a sake lounge. They serve a number of sakes and flavored saketinis. The restaurant is open until 10 pm, and the lounge is open until 2:30 am.

There are a number of choices for vegetarians at Bento Go Go. The counter business is fast casual. Prices are moderate.

Bento Go Go

Blue Ginger

Blue Ginger is the latest pan-Asian hot spot to spring up in Columbus during the last year. Blue Ginger features a multinational menu that jumps all over the Asian continent. There are Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai dishes on the menu.

The restaurant decor is modern and relatively formal. Blue Ginger serves beer, wine and sake. They have a liquor license pending. The mango saketini was delicious, making me not miss the hard liquor license at all.

I tried the edamame as an appetizer. The simple soybean becomes an addictive treat when it's boiled in sea salt. They call edamame Japanese peanuts for a reason. They are really that good and really that addictive.

The vegetarian sushi plate is one of the best I've ever had. There are a wide variety of different vegetable combinations wrapped with rice and seaweed. There were avocado rolls, carrot rolls, a number of rolls made with pickled vegetables, as well as a lightly fried rice dumpling and a mountain of ginger and wasabi. The presentation made the rolls almost too beautiful to eat. Luckily I closed my eyes, and they went down just fine (picture me smiling, fat and sarcastic).

There are also a number of noodle dishes that can be made with tofu on the menu. Overall, Blue Ginger has a wide variety of vegetarian options, and the food, service and experience are excellent.

Blue Ginger

Pei Wei Asian Bistro

Pei Wei Asian Diner is a newer concept from the P.F. Chang's folks that is popping up like weeds (or Starbucks) all across the United States. This is basically a Pan-Asian noodle shop with counter service that makes for a decent power lunch option.

There are a number of vegetarian options marked by the lovely hippie leaf logo on the menu, making the items easy to spot by vegetarians who are incapable of reading (although, come to think of it, illiterate vegetarians wouldn't be able to read the text at the bottom of the menu explaining the veggie symbol's meaning. It is a useful gesture for saving my time, nonetheless.).

The spring rolls were good if uninspiring. The noodle and rice dishes are fairly big portions, and none of the dishes cost more than $9. I tried the blazing noodles, a chow fun noodle dish (a fettuccine-like rice pasta) made with tomato black pepper sauce, broccoli, carrots, scallions, pea pods and cilantro with tofu. The sauce was flavorful and medium spicy, but I definitely would have liked the five inch broccoli stalks and the tofu slabs to have been cut more finely while I was eating with chop sticks. I do possess mad chop stick skillz, but the pieces were so large that I ended up eating in installments off of the sticks or taking down a whole piece in one ridiculous bite.

Then again, it was all made up for by my fascination with people who can't eat with chop sticks. I love watching people labor with the Asian cutlery, and I love it even more when they tap out and have to ask for silverware. In retrospect, maybe they figured something out with these four-inch tofu blocks and broccoli trunks that I hadn't. Maybe I'm really the dummy.

Regardless of my personal shortcomings, Pei Wei is fairly priced and should be attractive to those with a limited amount of time for lunch that want to eat vegetables for lunch and not deep fried animal goop from Kentuckyfriedbellkingmcdonalds. It is a decent option that isn't nearly as quality control driven as some of the swankier Asian bistros, but probably is economic enough to churn out a consistent business all the same. Check out the pictures below.

Pei Wei

The Weather Report in Iraq

I feel safer already. Russia has developed the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the world. The move was rumored to have been intended to make the U.S. nervous. I'm guessing Chechnya is the location that is most nervous.

Today's news was all over the Petraeus report and King George's reaction to the information. Most sources aren't buying the story coming from the General and the Commander in Chief. The next step is for the press to demand a swift guarantee at the legislative level to make sure this empty promise actually comes true.

Also in troubling Iraq news, two of the seven soldiers who authored an op-ed piece in the New York Times that was critical of the reports of success in the campaign have been killed in the line of duty. That eliminates two more people who have more insight into the situation in Iraq than anybody in the White House. Hopefully the administration isn't trying to knock off everybody critical of the surge, because those other five troops (one of which was also shot in the head Aug. 12) and I will have to watch out more than usual.

Disgraced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has resigned on the heels of a terrible year in office. I'm guessing Britney Spears' manager and publicist are probably doing the same thing right now.

After being accused of cheating by video taping the Jets and publicly admitting said transgression, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has critics ranging from Chargers halfback LaDanian Tomlinson to the media. Belichick is just thankful that he still isn't coaching in Cleveland.

Finally in jazz news, synth great Joe Zawinul died at the age of 75. Zawinul played and composed songs for the titans Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderly before forming the seminal jazz fusion group Weather Report with saxophone virtuoso Wayne Shorter. Zawinul crossed genres and cultures, creating a sound that was equal parts classical European tradition, funky jazz keyboard and rock n roll. Zawinul composed major parts of the jazz songbook, songs that were performed by the legends of the genre as well as currently being played by youngsters trying to cut their teeth. Some of the music sounds dated now, but today's multi-genre fusion efforts in a multitude of styles owe a great debt of gratitude to the pioneers like Joe Zawinul, a man who blazed a path so bright that those who come after him will be able to follow the trail for years to come.

Bergman, Bush, Blair, Brown, Baldomir, Bartman and Baseball

The news leads of with the death of iconoclastic filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Bergman created more than 50 films that explored the subjects that vanilla Hollywood was afraid to touch in a way that was uniquely his own style of expression. He died on a remote island, proving that the American film industry had gotten so vapid in the last few years that a genius director had to find a small piece of land floating around in the water in order to escape Hollywood's ignominious influence.

Britain and the United States have a new B and B duo. Instead of the combination of across-the-pond cowboys Bush and Blair, the new tag team is Bush and freshly-minted Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown, who is trying to win friends both in the U.K. and the U.S., called America Britain's strongest ally. His most important task is to keep relations between American and Britain friendly but not too friendly (because too friendly got Tony Blair kicked out of office). At this point in Bush's tenure, even the Atlantic Ocean may not be enough distance to keep his abrasive foreign policies from upsetting the new Killer B in London.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party suffered a major setback in a recent election that may cost Abe his seat as PM. His party lost seats in areas that they almost always win, and the defeat is blamed on Abe's policies as well as scandals that have kept his actions in the spotlight. If Mr. Abe doesn't right the ship, the opposing party may issue the ominous battle cry "All Your Base Are Belong To Us."

The 95-0 Senate vote to change the way the government puts poor college students in debt is one step in the right direction. Of course, it's a little too late as I am poor and already in crippling college debt. Better late than never, I guess.

Media news starts with video piracy hub YouTube pledging to install content filtering software that will prevent posting of copyrighted material...whenever they get around to it. Once the copyrighted materials are removed, the site will still have all of those banal video blogs , shots of guys getting hit in the nuts or drinking horrible things, and stupid pet tricks for you to enjoy. What a service!

The sports wires were bursting with news today. Cooperstown inaugurated two new members. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken joined the ranks of Babe Ruth and Cy Young in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ripken, with his slight build, and Gwynn, who is built like he ate Ty Cobb, may make up one of the last elected classes for some time that won't have to have to answer questions about performance enhancing drugs. Hopefully Commissioner Selig got an opportunity to practice his secret escape from the induction so he can duplicate the exodus after Bonds hits his record-breaking home run.

On the heels of Vernon Forrest's victory over Carlos Baldomir for the WBC super welterweight title comes a New York Times report on the shortcomings in health care for professional boxers. In a given week, I typically agree with John McCain as often as I agree with Charles Manson, but this time he had a pretty good idea.This was one of his pet issues that was spurned by the sport and underreported by the media (and not mentioned in the Times' coverage). Don King and the boxing governing bodies look like such scum that they make John McCain and his Crazy Train actually seem more like the Straight Talk Express.

Nascar bad boy Tony Stewart crossed the finish line as the victor in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Those who live in civilization and think that Nascar is an excuse for hillbillies to get together and drink Pabst Blue Ribbon while inhaling auto exhaust rolled over and continued sleeping.

Finally, researchers have determined through use of statistical modeling that the 2003 Florida Marlins should not have won the World Series. Using careful analysis, the researchers found that the Yankees were a better team than the Marlins in 2003. The Marlins were determined to be the worst team in 30 years to win an MLB championship. Finally Cubs fans will have a statistical anomaly not named Steve Bartman to blame for coming up a day late and a dollar short in their neverending quest for a Series title.

Bend It Like Bushie

For those of us who don't pay attention to the MLS (most if not all of America), David Beckham has landed. The New Republic does its best to blow through the hype and explain why Beckham is an overrated one trick pony. The opponents of that assertion believe that Beckham is to soccer what Michael Jordan was to baseball...an ambassador that will help sell minor league tickets.

War games strategies propose that a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would lead to Iraq splintering into three states rather than Iraq becoming a pawn under the control of radical Iran. This runs contrary to White House predictions that exiting Iraq would create absolute anarchy. Prognostications from professionals never stop those in power from doing something crazy like throwing money at militant groups in Iraq to battle other militants. I don't know why I expected the will of the people and common sense to overrule Bush's tenacious disregard for the obvious.

The sand is dropping through the hour glass, and Bush needs to make it look like he accomplished something during his last four years in office. He has chosen the always popular peace in Israel plan as his new way of keeping busy. The betting pool involves picking what happens last--peace in Israel, peace in Iraq, or peace in Columbus, Ohio during the Michigan football game.

Two earthquakes in Japan caused leakage at a nuclear facility near Tokyo. According to cinematic tradition, it is now time for Mothra to battle Godzilla for domination of the island nation.

The L.A. Times profiled a Frenchman who spent years in Iranian jail after accidentally becoming mired in a territorial battle. The article, while critical of the shortcomings of the Iranian legal system, still leads one to believe that the only place preferable to Gitmo is in fact Iranian prison.

The Democrats and fiscal responsibility seem to be mutually exclusive, but campaign research shows that Clinton and Obama are balancing their budgets while the Republicans are raising less money and spending it irresponsibly. Apparently the new Republican party is socially conservative and fiscally retarded.

Russia and Great Britain are at odds, with Russia promising swift retribution to Britain expelling diplomats after officials stated that they would refuse the extradition of a Russian accused of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London. Analysts predict that this will escalate to the point where Lennox Lewis will have to fight Fedor Emelianenko to the death in order to determine which country is right.

Finally, if the idea of a bunch of jerkoffs winning millions playing poker doesn't upset you enough, perhaps the idea of paying to watch these jerkoffs win millions will truly irritate you. The only sporting events more boring than competitive poker will be played at the Home Depot Center with the team trying to bend it like Beckham.