Marcel Moreau

My Favorite Documentary Trailers

Marcel — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:08:59 +0000

There’s something about movie trailers that I love. Someone could put out a project of the most boring material, but if the trailer is great, I’ll check it out. This post was most recently fueled by Joaquin Phoenix’s new movie, I’m Still Here. So here are my favorite trailers:

I’m Still Here – Joaquin Phoenix

Jeff Tweedy: Sunken Treasure Live – In the Pacific Northwest

American Movie

King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters

Funspot Trip Tomorrow

Marcel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:39:09 +0000

Tomorrow I am trekking up to Laconia, NH to play some old school arcade games at Funspot. This trip is most certainly influenced by King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a documentary that follows a middle school teacher named Steve Wiebe who sets out to break a 20 year Donkey Kong score held by Billy Mitchell, only to encounter a slew of challenges along the way. Donkey Kong is such a hard game, but I’ll give it a couple attempts.

I’m exited to play lots of old games like Ms. Pacman, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Paperboy, Contra, Punch-Out, Centipede.

King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters trailer

Steve Wiebe playing Donkey Kong, Jr.

Spent a Week in Las Vegas

Marcel — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:44:58 +0000

For the past week, I was in Las Vegas on vacation. It was my third time there, but this time was the longest. We stayed at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino this time around. Getting there was the worst ordeal of my life due to weather. We were supposed to connect in Denver but weather diverted us to Albuquerque, NM to refuel and wait. After 90 minutes we took off to Denver again only to circle in the air. When we finally landed, United Airlines decided to strand 9 of us. The representative told us we had to take a 4pm flight (!) the next day. Total bullshit. We had to crash at the Summerfield Suites (which is a really nice hotel) and wait it out. I woke up and called United and was able to get on an earlier flight with ease. Not sure what they did differently than the rep at the airport.

Las Vegas was great when we finally got there:

Roller Coaster at New York, New York
Pool
Walked the strip
Ate at Valentino’s
Visited Fremont St. (Old Vegas) and had a blast playing blackjack
Checked out the gardens at Bellagio
Snapped a photo with Daniel Negreanu
Saw Freddy Krueger checking his cell phone

View my photo set on Flickr

The Money Pit

Marcel — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:40:19 +0000

I’d really like to waste money on these items:

Shitbox Ford Station Wagon from the 1980s.

I’d bomb this around like Michael Myers.

Ms. Pacman Cocktail Table Arcade Machine

I’d drink a beer with this each night.

Scratch Tickets

Bugger off, I can win.

An Open Letter to Yelp Management

Marcel — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:40:19 +0000

Since Yelp does not publish email addresses for their management team, I’m stuck with writing an open letter on my blog in hopes that they will read it after I target them on Twitter and LinkedIn.

To the Yelp Management team,

I agree with and support a filtering system on Yelp. There was nothing I disliked more than seeing businesses try to game the system and leave dishonest reviews for their own benefit. But after finding all my reviews filtered out without reason, I’ll never use your service again and will persuade others to do the same. Who knew that all my efforts would not be seen by the general public. This will be the quickest way to lose your users.

I understand that algorithms can catch regular, honest reviewers like me. But what’s frustrating is Yelp’s FAQ section basically saying I am out of luck. Too bad. better luck next time. There’s no contact to resolve my problem and no way of knowing if my reviews will ever be read. I’m just caught in an algorithmic black hole. I’m not going to spend my time writing reviews and uploading photos and business information to be treated like a bot.

It’s really too bad because I loved Yelp and was an evangelist for some time. But now I just feel betrayed.

Off to find another review site,
Marcel Moreau

If anyone out there has any comparable services they use for business reviews, please leave a comment with your favorite one.

Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling

Marcel — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:40:30 +0000

Around Christmas, I purchased Bret Hart’s book Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling from Amazon.com. I’m not sure who Bret worked with on it, but the book is a smooth read, with Bret (or whomever) describing the differing aspects on his life in great detail, perfectly placing the reader in Bret’s life. I don’t doubt that Bret wrote most of it on his own, as we find out he kept detailed journal entries throughout his career. In addition, he has a creative streak as he was somewhat of an accomplished artist backstage, drawing elaborate illustrations on the dressing room’s blackboard.

Lots of dirt

Bret tells it like it is. He leaves no stone unturned, talking about his brother Owen’s death, the rivalry with “drug addict” Shawn Michaels, his extra-marital affairs, the turmoil of his family life, and the downfall of so many wrestling peers into drugs and death. He takes the time to praise the great workers of wrestling, such as Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask, and The Undertaker among others.

If you followed the WWF while Bret rose to prominence (1985-1998), you will love this book. You get to place yourself at every arena, in the middle of all the cutthroat bullshit that happens in the wrestling business.

Elliott Smith at the Academy Awards

Marcel — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:31:51 +0000

Elliott Smith performing Miss Misery at the 1998 Academy Awards. The song appeared in Good Will Hunting.

Best Bootleg Shirts

Marcel — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:53:32 +0000

Salvia – Don’t Smoke Too Much

Marcel — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:53:18 +0000

Guy bugs out on salvia.

Obama is the Cool

Marcel — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:16:35 +0000

President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth, Dec. 3, 2009.

Source