Ron Mexico's got style

I'm taking the weekend off for a change to head up to my special lady friend's place, but make sure you get your captions in for the champagne wishes and caviar dreams caption contest, which is on til next Wednesday.

So I know Jessica Simpson is down with country-rock music because she played Daisy Duke or whatever, but I never would have figured her for a Marshall Tucker Band fan. I'll spare the MTB bio, which can be found here, and just say that as far as 70's southern rock goes they are pretty damn cool.

Since Jessica was recently spotted sporting a Mashall Tucker Band t-shirt a few days ago, so I tried to find a little MTB to see what floats Mrs. Lachey's boat, but I got nothing. Oh well, strikes and gutters, dude. What I was lucky enough to find was an Iron and Wine cover of the Marshall Tucker Band song, "Ab's Song."

Iron and Wine - "Ab's Song" (Marshall Tucker Band cover)

Sports

Uh oh, looks like the Battle for Texas is on this Saturday as #10 Texas Tech takes on #2 Texas. Texas Tech quarterback Cody Hodges threw for 643 yards last week against Kansas State. That's sick. Texas Tech always produces great stat quarterbacks, but how far has that gotten Kliff Kingsbury? Anyways, I'm going with Tech this weekend because, well, can you blame me? Wreck em Tech!

More Texas Tech love:
Texas Tech Swim Team
Texas Tech Baby Oil Wrestling
Texas Tech Pudding Wrestling

David Stern's recent dress code reform for the NBA, which Chris wonderfully profiles, has a lot of people talking. Today, Falcons quarterback and style guru Michael Vick jumped on the criticism wagon, saying,

"It's a crazy situation. I don't know why people with power would make them dress the way that they want them to dress. Those guys are professionals, but at the same time we are all grown (men).

I don't think anyone should tell you how to dress, but that is the code and that is what they want and that is what the players have to abide by. I totally disagree with it, but the people make the rules.''

Jason Richardson has also stepped up in opposition to the dress code, while Stephen Jackson goes one step further to say that the NBA dress code "attacks blacks."

Key words to notice: "with power"; so what are you saying Ron Mexico, that the players aren't "the people?" What are the players then, more so, what is the the league? A commodity perhaps? Hmm.

If the NFL decides to follow "suit" (ha!), it will need more than a dress code to clean up its image, says Jim Litke.

Whatever you do, just let this guy do whatever he wants, or he'll bust a cap in your ass quicker than you can say Cambell's Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup.

Featured Artist: Beatallica

You've heard Jayzer, but have you heard...Beatallica? The project was founded in 2001 as a spoof by singer Jaymz Lennfield and guitarist Krk Hammetson. The EP A Garage Dayz Nite was recorded for the annual "Spoof Fest" concert held annually in Milwaukee, as a memento of that year's concert. A few dozen copies of the EP were handed out to friends. Later that year, one of those CD's made its way to Milwaukee resident David Dixon, who created a web page that included mp3's of the songs and named the band "Beatallica". The band was unaware of the webpage until Dixon finally met them in the summer of 2002, carrying a stack of fan emails from all around the world. Beatallica gave the webpage its blessings, and after further urgings from its internet fanbase, recorded the EP Beatallica, releasing it online on April 1, 2004.

Later in 2004, the band (now including bassist Kliff McBurtney and drummer Ringo Larz) started to perform at live venues, with a stage show incorporating elements from both Beatles and Metallica performances. To avoid legal problems, the band maintains a strict non-commercial policy (all songs are available for free download) and shrouds themselves in anonymity (all names mentioned above are of course stage names). Metallica are aware of the spoof band's existence and have so far not threatened to take any legal action; Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett have all publicly stated that they enjoy Beatallica's music.

Oddly enough, this stuff is pretty catchy in that Weird Al Yankovic kinda way. Check it out below:
Beatallica - "And Justice for All My Loving"
Beatallica - "A Garage Days Night"
Beatallica - "I Want to Choke Your Band"
Beatallica - "Hey Dude"
Beatallica - "Leper Madonna"

Need a weekend reading list? Then check out the National Review's list of Top 100 Non-Fiction books. And hey guess what, it's filled with mostly all white guys. Fantastic. I love No. 88: Leon Edel's Henry James. As Florence King says, "All the James you want without having to read him." So uh, where's Malcolm X again?

Death Cab for Cutie will be on NPR Monday for a concert performance. Make sure to check it out.

Rufus Wainwright - "Hallelujah"