Well that's cool if he's doing OK.
Merkle has a brother who looks a lot like him. Many years ago, one of the Merkles was going around with a full beard on one half of his face, and the other half clean shaven. But then I'd see the other Merkle brother, who had a totally different facial thing going on. It took me a while to figure out it wasn't the same Merkle.
That link I posted also has its own forum, which seems heavily populated with ex Black Market Baby and GI members....