weekend randoms: michelle wie, say hi to your mother for me

Michelle Wie

On Friday night, ML and I went to a friend's house in Palo Alto to play Rock Band. We stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some goodies for our night of rocking. As we left the store and turned the corner towards our intended destination, we saw a very tall and slender Asian girl walking in our direction with a shorter Asian guy. She looked extremely familiar. After staring intently as we crossed paths, I realized who she was.

Michelle Wie

At that point I vaguely remembered hearing of her attending Stanford. We weren't really star struck, but I think its noteworthy to point out. Hey, I am not from NY or LA; folks I see regularly on television are worth mentioning. ML felt similarly:

Me: "I think that was Michelle Wie"

ML: "Oh, ok."

More importantly, I'm not sure why I don't own Rock Band. Fresh off our Weezer concert from a couple of weeks ago, we were really inspired to do some rocking. And that we did. I think the best part may be the ability to download new tracks and add them to your repertoire. It's a great business model. I just can't make a cogent argument against buying the game when I see downloadable tracks like Radiohead's "My Iron Lung", Weezer's "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", Oasis' "Wonderwall", and Stone Temple Pilot's "Sex Type Thing" (the list goes on and on).

Quick Marketing Tangent

I think Rock Band will continue to become more and more elaborate. Newer iterations of the game will probably involve a keyboard and possibly guitars that more closely mimic an actual guitar. I would be shocked if those things weren't in development. And for the karaoke industry, I am assuming that they are developing similar technology. I think this is a serious competitive disadvantage if they don't see the Rock Band audience as a threat to market share. So please, give me some interactive guitars and percussion at the local karaoke bar. 

Mark Wahlberg

I spent a solid remaining portion of the weekend watching YouTube clips and SNL videos. There has been some really entertaining political sketches on SNL as of late, but I am still very partial to the really idiotic stuff. Recently, I have become a big fan of this Andy Samberg sketch:

A couple of weeks later, Wahlberg showed up at 30 Rockefeller to demonstrate that he is game to poke some fun at himself. I personally feel that Andy Samberg plays Mark Wahlberg better than Wahlberg plays himself. I'm not sure why it's so funny, but it just is.

Wahlberg's evolution into mildly palatable entertainer has been fun to watch for me (because he cares about that). First he gives us Entourage and then a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his turn as Lieutenant Dignam in The Departed. One thing is clear in this stretch of success for the New Englander. He sure plays a damn good Bostonian (I will not be watching Max Payne). Mr. Wahlberg - please continue to play Boston cops. It's good for you, it's good for me.

Oh, I almost forgot. Please say hello to your mother for me.

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