Remember that R-Kelly and Usher song “Same Girl”? Hell yeah it was idiotic.

But, check out the Flight of the Conchords’ take on it. Pretty awesome.

The Bad Brains are and will remain at the conerstone of the punk/rock/reggae movement. There are many tracks by the Bad Brains that exemplify their unique style and originality, but “I Against I” seems perfectly fitting at this point in time, and what better way to celebrate “Fat Tuesday” than with a little bit of Bad Brains? PS. check the “Poison” spray painted tag on the wall! -80′s baby, they don’t make’em like that anymore.

I just got the new Alien Workshop video and it’s so sick. It hasn’t really strayed from the style of their older videos like Photosynthesis or Mosaic. To me, the new guy Jake Johnson had one of the coolest parts. A real OG NYC skate part. Go buy Mindfield. Trust me, it’s worth the money.

A good old friend of mine named Joselle Yokogawa has a really great blog, “Josie’s House of Style”. I have known her since the early 90′s when she used to work at a boutique in Riviera Village, where she would design the window displays. Long story short, she is quite the fashion writer with a long resume, and her blog rocks! (for all the lady’s) – Plus, how cool is she in this photo with Ice-T? – dope~!

As readers of this blog may know, LUDWIG chose as our first sponsored “athlete” a real-deal piano virtuoso named Otto Ehling. He hails from the east side of the Hollywood Hills in an eclectic artist enclave where Woodrow Wilson Drive hits Pacific View Drive. Otto lives in the most incredible house in Los Angeles. It’s covered with 40 years worth of handmade mosaic, lovingly pieced together by Otto’s father, George Ehling. I’ve known George since birth. I grew up across the street during the 1970s in an old ranger station (more on that later). Anyway, this will be my first of many posts about the Ehling family as a lead up to a Ludwig-sponsored, very exclusive private piano concert by Otto to be held in the his house. You should see Otto play Rachmaninoff. It’s absolutely incredible. Invited guests will also get a house tour by George himself.

All is well in the Ehling family.

I’ll start the tour at their garage on Woodrow Wilson Drive. From the first moment you see the house you’ll notice it’s special. Each inch of the place is covered in decorative mosaic, ranging from simple repeated patterns and inlays to complex portraits of family members past and present.

Even their garage is something to behold.

George was always good with the ladies. Here’s Otto with his mother, Ivenia. She’s from Brazil and always welcomes me with open arms, no matter how many people I bring to see their house.

Good looking and talented.

When you arrive in front of the Ehling house, George is usually in front working on a mosaic. Today we found him up on the wall in his workshop where he cuts tile. The stonework shown here was done with the assistance of Manuel.

George is very proud of this piece. He’s worthy of it.

George Ehling: Self Portrait.

Anyway, when I was about five years old, George told me he was God. When I told my mother about it she informed me that while George may be a “god,” he most certainly was not the “God.” I went to George with this new information and he told me that my mother was correct, but that my dog was also a god. He was right.

A god.

Mark and movie props from George

Look out for PART 2 when we enter the house.

“Ceremony”. I really like this song/video for a few reasons. First is the classic nature of the New Order track. It’s one of those songs that exemplifies that quintessential teen-age time-capsule vibe. I mean, when I hear this song it instantly takes me back to nostalgia land and at the same time it sounds very new and fresh, and full of wonder. It makes you want to go out and take a walk in the city with headphones on, kind of like in your own world, yet still part of the vibe of the city…This version is played by Radiohead in some house, and it looks like they are having a lot of fun with it, not to mention it sounds really good! -Enjoy.

After the 18 years I spent growing up in Irvine, California, I’ve come to the conclusion that it has 3 things to offer :1. A good school district 2. the first Yogurtland EVER and 3. Irvine-Sucks.com. Irvine-sucks.com is a website that a couple of my really good friends started a few years back. The Irvine-Sucks crew hosted the very first skate video premiere in Irvine two years ago. It was epic. The crew also sold some limited edition tshirts for the first couple of months. I was lucky enough to get one of the firsts! I’ve had it for far too long now, and have worn it probably far too many times, but I still get questions about it everytime. The site’s still up and running, with random updates of skate videos filmed in Irvine and neighboring cities and amusing anecdotes of local skaters stickin it to the man in one way or another. Check it out if you’re looking for a random read: www.irvine-sucks.com

Here’s a picture of me and my best friend who’s wearing an irvine-sucks shirt.

and here’s one of BONESTORM, the name of the second irvine-sucks video, up on the marquee in Irvine.

So there’s this blog that i check out regularly, it’s called “Ben is an Asshole”. Ben (a friend of Eliel’s) is overall, a pretty cool kid (although when we stand next to one another he towers like a foot over me, so he does’nt quite look like a “kid”.) In this particular episode of Ben is an Asshole there is an entry called “the list of the weekend” or something like that. It appears to be a list of all the things that they are going to do for the weekend now that his buddy’s gets his drivers license. It’s f*&cking hilarious! Esp. the part where it says the rules about “no scarves”…aaahhhh what fun it was turning 16 and getting your license! – good times. Nice goin fellas.

Our good friend Frank Trigg won his latest fight last night at XCF against Danny Babcock. Congratulations Trigg, time to come back to the welterweight ranks! – check out Triggs site here.