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

Date: December 2018

Woke up expecting some major changes to WWE, and what do I get? That hoary old ‘McMahons = ratings’ shibboleth #aside

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Couldn’t help but notice that guy with the luminous green shirt wasn’t at ringside for WWE TLC last night. I’m both delighted at the change and concerned for his wellbeing #aside

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I still haven’t shaken off this cold. How many days has it been now? #aside

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Hey, you know that Greta Van Fleet album everyone was shitting on recently? Was it really produced by the same guy who did those Don Caballero records? #aside

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Nah, it doesn't work. The interface works, but it doesn't do anything. I tried Mobius instead; that does work standalone, but not great (too much background noise), and the AU plugin doesn't show up in GarageBand https://t.co/fyRyzMYW5P #aside

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Long day/night at work, then finishing the Robert Forster Go-Betweens book and… I’m floored #aside

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Here it is, the first Meat Puppets song from the original lineup in over 23 years. Sounds like it’s from that era, too, with a touch of Up on the Sun psych in the solos. By the way, here's a bonus live set from June. #video

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I may have jumped the gun on this and my current setup might work just enough, but I won't have time to test it till Sunday https://t.co/lQErdpZddW #aside

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Unexpected Xmas gift in the post from one of my freelance clients just put a smile on my face this freezing morning #aside

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Read 100 pages of Robert Forster’s memoir-slash-story of The Go-Betweens today. It’s very good, people #aside

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Does anyone I know have JACK and/or SooperLooper running on macOS Mojave? I can’t get it working here, please explain it to me like I’m dumb #aside

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I’ve had this annoying cold for almost two weeks but at least it’s just a cold and not something worse #aside

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Capturing sound from Mac apps on a budget

One relatively niche tool that I’ve found incredibly useful in my media doings over the last few years is Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack for macOS. Essentially it’s a one-stop shop for recording audio from any source on your Mac: you point it to where the sound is coming from, like an external mic or a VOIP app like Skype (to use examples I’ve relied on in the past), press record and bam, there’s a file, ready to go.

I can tell you it’s made the process of recording phone interviews much less painless, no faffing around with extra cables or hardware required. However, as great as it is at what it does — and its toolset goes way beyond my basic audio capturing requirements — it’s not cheap. More…

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Went to see Les Mis last night. Great show, fantastic staging. Not great roles for women, though. And could’ve done without the casual antisemitism and homophobia at the end #aside

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As I have for the past few years, I made some small contributions to this year's Afloat Irish Sailing Annual https://t.co/FX9VTY8Awu #aside

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I’ve got a voucher to get the flu vaccine in NI but the nice man in Boots told me over the phone that it’s being rationed for kids and the over-65s. So that’s that, then #aside

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Delighted to finish work early tonight as I’ve got a splitting headache #aside

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I was squinting without my glasses when I first saw this and thought the cake pops were the blades of Freddy’s glove. Which in turn gives me an idea for another movie… https://t.co/Z3mkp7KGfs #aside

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Ah, Google broke quick-adding events to Calendar again, sigh #aside

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The Old Man & the Gun is out today and I even wrote a review of it! I’ll share as soon as it’s online #aside

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Why did no one tell me elderflower tastes like lychee?! #aside

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I’m here for KUSHIDA signing with WWE if they want him and that’s where he wants to go. He’s done all he can in New Japan for the time being at least. And I’m sure he’s aware of the caveats https://t.co/1KYHd3Yz5p #aside

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Tuning up my new guitar just now. I got a Telecaster copy so I can be like D Boon if you squint really, really hard #aside

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I don’t know, people: ‘feed a fed horse’ sounds a lot like you’re trying to make horse foie gras #aside

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I was just thinking: ‘This is the most Wednesday-feeling Tuesday.’ That’s probably because it’s Wednesday #aside

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How am I only realising now that Morbid Angel’s discography is alphabetical? Also, what happened to the E and the J? #aside

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I now own a guitar to go with my bass #aside

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