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

Fucking hell, Steve Albini #aside

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The other day Duolingo taught me that the French for ‘kitten’ is ‘chaton’. Presumably because if you have one you’ll find it’s chaton everything #aside

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Thanks to Phil Freeman for the hot tip that Bad Brains’ iconic I Against I is getting a remastered reissue this summer > badbrainsrecords.com #aside

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If you were in that protest in Dublin city centre today, you’re a fucking bigot. Shove your ‘legitimate concerns’ up your hole #aside

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There goes Gary Floyd of the Dicks, Sister Double Happiness and other bands you probably haven’t heard but should’ve. RIP to a real one #aside

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Three things about this story: they got the name of the road wrong (it’s Watermill Drive, it even says so in the image at the top); drivers know there’s a stop there and will pick up and drop off regardless; and this is not the first time this has happened > thejournal.ie #aside

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Finally upgraded my personal MacBook to Sonoma and in the process I figured out how to turn off that annoying ‘clicking on the desktop moves all the windows’ thing so I can change that on my work MacBook tomorrow #aside

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Seeing the headline ‘Darby Allin hit by bus’ and I’m like well, that’s just Darby being Darby, isn’t it? But then finding out it happened while he was on the way to see a Broadway show with Raymond Pettibon? Doesn’t get more perfect than that #aside

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RIP Daniel Dennett. I was a John Searle guy as an undergrad, which I hate to say now because he’s not a good person, so I’m sorry for doubting you, Mr Dennett #aside

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Still catching up on the wrestling from last weekend. Right now it’s the #JJSB8 Cluster and Veda Scott clearly had a long day at the commentary desk; she sounds like Kathleen Turner #aside

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Just tried to watch the start of WrestleMania (to see the stage set-up, etc) and the VOD file is borked, so yeah that won’t be happening today #aside

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It’s WrestleMania fringe festival time! This evening I’m watching last night’s STARDOM show; tomorrow it’ll be Supercard of Honor and Joey Janela’s Spring Break #aside

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If the Numero/Tiger Style news means I’ll get a coloured vinyl reissue of that album by The Sick Lipstick, I’m all for it #aside

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Just the one purchase for me this Bandcamp Friday: the upcoming second LP from Machiavellian Art > riotseasonrecords.bandcamp.com/
album/population-control #aside

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At the shops this evening, I overheard someone tell a friend of theirs: “Don’t come too close, I’ve got a dose.” Was this person wearing a mask? Of course they weren’t. I mean, it’s not like we learned anything at all about communicable disease in the last four years, is it? #aside

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The next Mamaleek is a double LP out this August, a tribute to both Oakland baseball legend Vida Blue and the band’s late member Eric Livingston > mamaleek.bandcamp.com/album/vida-blue #aside

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Yeah, of course Slim J or Anthony Henry or Stu Grayson aren’t going to sell tickets like you know who. But they’re solid, charismatic hands that a promotion needs for a healthy talent-development-focused midcard. Otherwise, in the long run you just get WWE lite #aside

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These AEW cuts are sad. It’s not that long ago there was some pride about that company being the place that honoured contracts for the full term, even if the talent weren’t used to their full potential. But now it’s pretty obvious heads are being cut to pay for certain other wrestlers’ contracts #aside

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It’s not even Easter yet but Lidl have already cleared off their shelves, so no mint choc egg for me this year #aside

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Latest Ventura update has ruined streaming to the Xbox so now I have to go back to copying stuff to a USB stick like some kind of animal #aside

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Some years ago I did a few editions of a roundup column on heavy music (‘heavy’ being a vague definition on purpose). If I did something along those lines again but as a newsletter, would anyone read it? #aside

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I see The Journal didn’t test their ‘pay us’ pop-up as it’s un-closable on mobile #aside

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Well done, last-month me, on booking tomorrow off to make it a four-day weekend #aside

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#NowPlaying Meat Puppets - Monsters (the 1990 repress on blue marble vinyl, which I just got for a steal) #aside

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Spent my day in the word mines and all the news happens #aside

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Just got an email saying the reissue of NoMeansNo’s Wrong has been pushed back by yet another month (it’s early May now, apparently). I know it’s bad for indie labels pressing vinyl these days, but most seem to handle it better than what Alternative Tentacles have been doing #aside

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That title “Frozen Empire” annoys me inordinately; it’s got that ring of dullard studio meddling, and says far more about the film’s prospective quality than a trailer ever will #aside

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Mystery Wrestling 7 was the best laugh I’ve had in ages. Do yourself a favour and throw Evil Uno a few bucks to watch the VOD when it’s posted tomorrow > patreon.com/mysterywrestling #aside

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I am, however, marking the day by watching the new BBC Four documentary on Microdisney, Cork’s Go-Betweens #aside

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Had to take a detour around the town’s parade to get home from the shops this lunchtime. Do I have to tell you I’m not a St Patrick’s Day person? #aside

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Was tempted there for a moment to pay for AEW Plus to see the big debut on Dynamite tonight but then I remembered casting the live stream to the Xbox never works #aside

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Find of the day: under-appreciated 1987 horror Retribution is now streaming on Prime Video (I know, I know) #aside

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Something I learned only recently is that Curt Hennig had a WWF run in 1983, more than five years before he became Mr Perfect #aside

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(Not to say it shouldn’t have been a yes — I voted yes both times — but at the root of it all, we don’t really have the platonic ideal of a democracy here) #aside

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Also, remember when they had us redo the Lisbon Treaty ref like we were bold schoolchildren? The powers that be can put these things to the people whenever they please; always remember that #aside

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Haven’t before said anything about the big vote tomorrow, but I will say this: the problems, as they exist, are way bigger than the wording of our Constitution, and getting lost in the minutiae of whether “endeavour” is a stronger word than “strive”, etc (FWIW they are synonymous; we’re not voting on whether a judge might see that differently) #aside

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It’s taken me three nights but I’ve finally watched all of AEW Revolution and I’m happy to say it was a satisfying show, especially when I’ve been kind of down on wrestling this year #aside

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Used that there Re-Turn thing for the first time today and while it worked fine for me, it certainly added some friction to my shopping. Can’t use the voucher at the self-service checkout, can I? #aside

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Two weeks after appealing those bullshit customs charges and not a peep from An Post so I’ve paid (with much resentment) the crooked double tax so I can have the feckin’ things I can’t get anywhere else. I still want to know who’s responsible for messing this up so completely #aside

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Is it just me, or is today the most Tuesday-feeling Wednesday we’ve had in a while? #aside

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So annoyed with this, I just splurged on a BlueBrixx DS9 runabout (it was on sale!) to cheer myself up #aside

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Further to this: I get the IOSS number from Juno; I read it out to An Post on the phone; they tell me it’s not valid, and that ‘Revenue don’t lie’. Ha! It’s an Irish institution, I trust it about as as far as I can throw it! #aside

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Somebody in An Post and/or Revenue is messing up big time: I just received a customs charge notice for a single LP from the UK, which cost €36 with shipping, but they’ve assessed the customs value at €122? What??!! #aside

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Another year, another Puppy Bowl I won’t see because it’s not broadcast or streamed in Europe #aside

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#NowPlaying Sonic Youth - Walls Have Ears (the new double LP arrived this morning) #aside

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It might be baltic out there but the sun finally rises before and sets after my day-job hours. Every cloud, etc #aside

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Breaking my radio silence to report that the mighty Horse Lords are playing Dublin in April > tickets.ie #aside

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The WWE Raw/Netflix news is kind of burying the lede that WrestleMania (and the Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, etc) will be a Netflix exclusive outside the US come next year #aside

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