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

Date: December 2017

‘Smooth Sailing’ Ashley Remington > Dalton Castle #aside

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Remember I said I was on me holliers? I spoke too soon, sigh #aside

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My cursive handwriting has gone to shit #aside

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Seriously, I’ve lost count of all the iOS updates I’ve had to do over the last few weeks. Steve Jobs is spinning in his grave #aside

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Aaaaand I’m on me holliers from the day job till the New Year #aside

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Missed the press screening for the new Jumanji today. Don’t think I’ll be diverted to the local flea pit when it opens, either. Sorry, Rock #aside

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I'm not a hater. I'm genuinely sad that people are leaving screenings of #TheLastJedi disappointed #aside

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Made a batch of rice in the rice cooker this morning but forgot to add the salt. Baka desu! #aside

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I’d love to talk about how some of the big ‘emotional’ high points of #TheLastJedi didn’t work for me at all, but y’know, spoilers #aside

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Very much looking forward to seeing Your Name later this week, now that I finally have the Blu Ray #aside

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Some good news today from the #8Committee. Roll on the referendum to mend our Constitution #aside

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No spoilers in my review of #TheLastJedi but if you're only looking for validation, I don't know what to say to you https://t.co/cf1FJGvoDg #aside

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We may not be able to make this ourselves (I was looking forward to seeing Stoat, sad face) but that shouldn't stop… https://t.co/1rQbiLTXDr #aside

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My Thumped review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Hold those other, glowing reviews you're bound to see with suspicion, as the latest entry in the Star Wars saga is a middling dud. Maybe if some people could step outside their fandom bubble for a minute... #link

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Talk of #TheLastJedi being the ‘most emotional’ of the franchise (it’s not, at all) smacks of desperation to love a sub-par film #aside

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Good on 'em. Cyclists are road users as much as any other vehicle, no matter what bus, van and taxi drivers think https://t.co/JuR5jUTxSI #aside

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Ah, typical; can’t see Blade of the Immortal this week b/c work, and next week it’s not showing anywhere I can get to #aside

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I love how Amazon is just like, screw statutory rights: WE messed up your order but YOU have to jump through hoops to fix it #aside

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Very disappointed with @AmazonHelp sending me a book with an obviously damaged spine #aside

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I’ve been off social media most of today, did that ‘bullied’ kid seriously get milkshake ducked? #aside

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It is far colder in Dublin now than it was in Dundalk before dawn #aside

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Heavy on the M1 this morning. Glad I caught the earlier bus now #aside

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Luas Cross City augurs change in Broombridge

From last year, about a year after we moved to Dundalk and my commute, whether by rail or bicycle along the canal, no longer took me past the least loved station in the Irish Rail network. I’ve been wondering about the security situation at a stop that had no Leap card readers for months due to vandalism. (Oh, and there was that time some scumbag bricked a train window we were sitting next to. The area itself isn’t that rough, though.) #link

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24-hour Putin people: my week watching Kremlin ‘propaganda channel’ RT

“More than outright lies, RT deals in moral equivalency. Its defenders don’t deny bias; they deny the possibility of objectivity. They say western media is equally biased. They liken RT to state broadcasters such as the BBC, France 24 and al Jazeera. They say other news channels have been sanctioned by Ofcom. It’s a triumph of cynicism: we’re all just as bad as each other.” The difference is, those other channels don’t make disinformation, in bad faith, their raison d'être. Speaking of bad faith, The Atlantic was recently moved to do an explainer on a concept — lying, basically — that’s pretty self-evident. #link

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Looking forward to taking the Luas from Parnell St to Dundrum next week. Early Xmas present for me, seriously #aside

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Ah, it’s that time of year when people who haven’t been to the supermarket since last Xmas start clogging the aisles #aside

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Everyone going on about the old ILAC fountain but no one’s mentioned the glass lift #aside

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Adam Savage geeks out as he cuts a record at Jack White’s Third Man headquarters in Detroit. Whatever your opinion on Black, one can’t doubt he’s a genuine nerd about the craft of recorded music. #video

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Back from the post office where I mailed our first Xmas card of the season. Today’s the last day for ROW post; you’ve got 2 hours left! #aside

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Hot chocolate with almond milk FTW #aside

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Missed the screening for I, Tonya on Monday evening. Can anyone tell me if it touches on her post-incident career as a wrestling manager? #aside

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Been tinkering with my website a bit. Next task: making it https for free when my host charges an arm and a leg for it #aside

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I’m trying out a new thing; it’s called going to bed before 10pm because it’s cold and I’m sleepy #aside

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My Letterboxd reviews for November 2017

Frank Grillo in Wheelman

Another few weeks of genre-hopping, thanks to a free month of Shudder that I ended up letting lapse as I couldn’t find much of anything I wanted to watch. So it goes.

But it was also a month that included one of my favourite films of the year. Shame it bypassed cinemas and went straight to Netflix. The new straight to video? I sure hope not.

Obviously Netflix is better than that, but there is a clear sense that it serves serialised ‘prestige’ TV much better than first-run feature films. And I get the feeling even Netflix’s honchos recognise this, going by all the promos I’m seeing for Bright (which isn’t out till the end of this month). More…

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Falling in love again with the production on the first two Gang of Four albums #aside

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I guess DUP is an initialisation of Doesn’t Understand Politics #aside

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Google’s broken UX behaviour drives me up the wall. I don’t want to open this doc in drive, I want to download it ffs #aside

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Dogs in SNL Aer Lingus sketch = three seashells #aside

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