Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.

Date: October 2017

Poor aul’ Liam #GBBO #aside

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#Ophelia watch: the gales picked up again but we’re grand; I’m going to bed #aside

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Has the Lidl on Moore St reopened yet? I’m kinda stuck for my usual breakfast pretzels in the morning, y’see #aside

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Five eps into Star Trek Discovery and it’s only getting worse #aside

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#Ophelia watch: is it over yet? No damage to the house as far as I can tell #aside

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That’s cute Brit Twitter going on about their #RedSun when we’re getting battered by #Ophelia over here #aside

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#Ophelia watch: fairly violent gusts in Dundalk now, but the patio is sheltered enough that the leaves are barely budging #aside

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#Ophelia watch: gusts are bending the trees across the road now #aside

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Haven’t thought about Sean Hughes in a long time but what a loss, seriously #aside

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#Ophelia watch: quite blustery already up here in Dundalk, and the sky is pink #aside

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I don’t want to hear any moaning tomorrow if #Ophelia turns out to be a damp squib #aside

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That’s me staying in tomorrow, so. Please let us not lose electricity and internet as well #aside

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Testing out this iRig headphone amp thing I got for my bass and it’s pretty badass #aside

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Honestly getting a little worried now about travelling to the city on Monday with a Cat 3 storm on the way #aside

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Just had to finish a truck driving sim mission I rage quit as I made a wrong turn right before the end of my route and couldn’t turn around #aside

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I know Bee is the one for me because she helped me find the two missing cards from my WCW set in WWE Slam #aside

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I think we can all agree that the application of Twitter’s terms of service is fairly suspicious #aside

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Let me get this straight: men can sling all kinds of abuse on Twitter, but Rose McGowan tells Baffleck to fuck off and gets suspended? #aside

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Ah, my Amazon parcel and its ridiculous box arrived just in time for recycling day #aside

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A Brief History of SETI@Home

Who didn’t have this on their computer around the turn of the century? And the project is still going! Best of the web, no doubt. #link

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I’ll let you know how yesterday’s Budget affects me as soon as I find out how last year’s affects my tax filing this month #aside

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Haven’t watched New Japan since the US G1 shows so I’m just jumping straight back in with KOPW or I never will #aside

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“The hair’s where he gets his power from; he’s like Samson” - Bee on Jushin Thunder Liger #aside

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Amazon Prime’s film selection in Ireland is worse than pathetic. Same film market as the UK but we don’t even have what they get #aside

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UPS i-Parcel tracking is so informative; my Amazon order has practically disappeared since export on Friday #aside

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So it turns out Bee’s old Tamagotchi is a Japanese model, not one made for the western market #aside

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Hold up, hold up: Jazzy Gabert’s stepdad is Masahiro Chono?! #aside

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When in doubt, watch wrestling. I’m almost through watching every Clash of the Champions since a few weeks ago, which is a lot #aside

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Utility OpenType

A set of CSS classes for advanced typography, like ligatures. Overcomplicated for most users, but would probably be handy if such fine control over appearance is ever required. #link

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What’s people’s problem with the new Morbid Angel song? Sounds pretty good to me #aside

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History (1453–2001)

On a related note to my last post, here’s Mishaal Al Gergawi’s digest of what he learned from reading modern history. (The thing he notes about people from a distance being less compromising rings true for me, as an Irish person who sees Irish-Americans venerate the Republican armed movement without ever having to face the consequences up close.) #link

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Bill Wurtz covers the history of the entire world in under 20 minutes. [c/o Kottke.org] #video

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ST Discovery e03 starts feeling like proper Trek for a fleeting few moments, then loses the plot (and rips off The Expanse’s aesthetic) #aside

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Bit early for Hallowe’en names, isn’t it? Also, I’m stuck for a good one #aside

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Slept on this NXT War Games news. I’m excited! But two rings or GTFO #aside

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Monthnotes for September 2017

So, an eventful September as predicted.

The biggest news, both work-related and personal, from the last few weeks is that my Bandcamp Daily feature on Ireland’s heavy underground was published.

It’s my highest-profile writing project to date, and only happened because I decided I had nothing to lose by sending the pitch. I’m not exactly brimming with self-belief (the term ‘imposter syndrome’ was created for people like me) but this has been a big boost of confidence. More…

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