Obligatory ‘Asuka is brilliant’ tweet #aside
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Hello, world. I’m MacDara Conroy, and this is my blog.
Date: March 2018
Catching up on NXT before the PPV tonight, and delighted to see TM61 back in action. I like their new Aussie Rules shirts, too #aside
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Friendly reminder that due to the clocks changing in North America, Fastlane starts at midnight tonight and not 1am #aside
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My Goodreads reviews for 2017
My low logging rate on Goodreads for 2017 belies how much I read on a given day; it just doesn’t come from books. That’s not because I’m too distracted for the long form, more that I’ve been having trouble losing myself in the worlds that novels require. (Or wanting to; it’s easier to watch good films or great TV, after all.) So last year’s record, as little as I read in qualifying matter, fairly reflects that. More…
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A wrestling film opened in cinemas today but the press show (that I couldn’t get to) was yesterday, which says a lot #aside
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Season 3 of Love just hit Netflix so I know what I’m doing this weekend #aside
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My Thumped review of You Were Never Really Here
“The plot is stripped to the bone, and it’s all in the execution” of what's easily the best new film I’ve seen in months. Also on Medium. #link
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#MWE Day 28: Soft Kill - Choke. Missed this dangerous, alluring post-punk gem when it came out a year ago, to my shame #aside
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#MWE Day 27: Pitchshifter - Industrial. Like Godflesh with more swing, and with hints of the drum’n’bass pop machine they’d become #aside
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#MWE Day 26: Manifesting Obscenity - Doppelgänger. Strangely listenable for brutal cosmic death metal with pig squeal vocals #aside
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The Cure - Seventeen Seconds / Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables / Devo - Freedom of Choice / Pere Ubu - The Art of Walking / Pylon - Gyrate #DesertIslandBirthYear #aside
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Here's Bee review of Subnautica for Thumped https://t.co/V0SwSYId3G #aside
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Dave Winer on Google’s plans to effectively deprecate HTTP
And why that’s bad. One reason: “Many of the sites they will label as ‘not secure’ don’t ask the user for any information.” This website included; it doesn’t even serve cookies to anyone other than myself (to access my CMS). #link
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Board games for two players
Reminds me, it’s been a while since we’ve played any of the games we actually have. Android: Netrunner is on deck, since I’m determined to learn how to play it. See also: Matthew Baldwin’s always dependable Good Gift Games, 2017 edition, while The Guardian put together a guide for newbies looking to avoid that battered Monopoly box in the cupboard. #link
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Watching random eps of All Star Wrestling just uploaded to the Network, and learning things like Allen Coage had a WWF run years before he was Bad News Brown #aside
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Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble
I’ll be honest, one part of me is like ‘OMFG 50-man Rumble!' while the rest is thinking ‘Wow, WWE’s really going all in with this Saudi partnership, hmm.' #link
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HTML Color Codes
Everything you always wanted to know about colours for the web in one handy, beautifully designed spot. #link
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Hiragana and Katakana quiz
I’m (very slowly) learning Japanese with Duolingo, and this is a great resource to keep fresh on the relevant alphabets. Maggie Sensei is another source for info, when I’m ready to step up my game. (Not any time soon.) #link
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So ridiculous hours-long waits at checkpoints, then? I mean besides the inevitable paramilitary resurgence https://t.co/6ciL7AR3f0 #aside
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The Story of Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart, in His Own Words
There isn’t much of a narrative to this, it’s just Hart and his observations on life, etc. But it makes one long for a world where we could still get his take on things. #link
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Best of luck to @peavolov and colleagues with their Oscar nomination tonight! #aside
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Guild Wars 2 is a lot of fun, and scratches that WoW itch I’ve been having recently #aside
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The startling irony aside, it’s not even a hundred years since https://t.co/cDtOOkJvxG #aside
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Watched Mute tonight; it’s really not as bad as people say, though like Warcraft it’s got some significant translation-to-screen issues #aside
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It’s snowing again in Dundalk #aside
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My Letterboxd reviews for February 2018
February’s a short month as it is, but nine films over four weeks is a low batting average. One of those was a repeat viewing, two others I reviewed over at Thumped, and I’m writing up one more over the weekend, or perhaps early next week. The rest you can find below. More…
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Sonic Pi - The Live Coding Music Synth for Everyone
This is good; essentially a hand-holding interface for Supercollider, which is exactly what I’ve been looking for. See also: Jazzari: The Programmable Trio (an in-browser code-based tracker). #link
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Just built a snowman in 10 minutes, as you do #aside
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Work done, blog entry posted. What now? The calendar says Friday but no day this week has felt like what it is since Monday #aside
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Monthnotes for February 2018
I already covered the beginning of February in my previous notes, and there’s little to report for the rest of the month. Time flies; sometimes there isn’t much to show for it work-wise. And sometimes the weather slows the country into shutdown mode. So let’s turn to some personal projects. More…
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It’s after midnight but the sky is orange so it’s bright enough to go outside though it’s a bit windy and icy so I wouldn’t #aside
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My Thumped review of Red Sparrow
My take on this lurid but tedious spy drama, another miss for J-Law, plus a few words on the even worse Sky animation Monster Family. Also on Medium. #link
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Card catalogs and the secret history of modernity
Tim Carmody on the humanity of information records and retrieval. It makes me think… at one point in my life, I could have been a librarian; with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I’d given in a shot. #link
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