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


It’s half seven on a Saturday morning and they’re already blowing whistles at the GAA club across the way. So much for sleeping late… #aside

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Ah, just got dispatch confirmation for my Behringer Edge! Barring customs shenanigans, it should be here in a few days, hopefully #aside

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Fuck’s sake, the NYT is ending Digits next month. Because Americans have never seen Countdown, probably > The Verge #aside

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Film review — The Long Goodbye

Altman uses Chandler’s hard-boiled detective story as a platform to throw a few random digs at stuff that must have been bubbling up for him at the time — hippie culture, poor policing, Hemingway machismo, gangster capitalism — and it really coasts on Elliott Gould’s charisma. Thankfully he’s strong enough to carry it. More…

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Had to take a half-day today thanks to my sinusitis (I’ve gone part deaf in my left ear again, too). Hadn’t taken a sick day all year but still feel guilty about it #aside

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Film review — Bloodstone

Some balls this film’s got doing brownface in the middle of Bangalore. Also, this is where Lloyd Kaufman lifted that David Mamet quip in The Toxic Avenger Part II (and made it work better, so I’ll allow it). More…

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#AEWCollision observation: CM Punk has worn different gear for each match he’s had since his return; who does he think he is, Thunder Rosa? #aside

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#AEWCollision observation: Was all that froth spewing from Jay White’s mouth a tribute to Owen Hart’s spittle face at WrestleMania X? #aside

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Completely apart from the climate-change issues, has anybody else noticed how all these SUV-looking cars today are spectacularly ugly? Just mean, hateful vibes from every single one of them #aside

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Happy 53rd birthday to the Stooges’ Fun House, one of the finest rock ’n’ roll documents ever recorded #aside

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I can’t with this weather… Every time I want to cycle to the shops it’s raining #aside

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I’m watching #MITB because it’s a novelty to watch live wrestling at a reasonable hour. Two observations: #WWE camerawork is still woeful; and why was Cody Rhodes wearing a Confederate flag on his right leg? #aside

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Isn’t it a bit weird that #AEW still haven’t confirmed details of how to watch All In London on TV? The show’s next month, like #aside

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#NowPlaying Six Finger Satellite - The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird (specifically the new 2xLP remastered reissue from Sub Pop) #aside

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While I can appreciate all the effort that’s gone into #AEW #FightForever, I’m not paying €60 for a €30 game #aside

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Ugh, just realised the new Subway menu’s removed chicken teriyaki as an option. But that was my favourite one! #aside

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Just a thought: If I were fairly new to #wrestling and I’m seeing last night’s #AEW I might be thinking, why is CM Punk facing an old Japanese man? As a longtime wrestling fan I’m thinking: Kojima’s great and all, but why’s he in that spot while the likes of Shingo and Hiromu are relegated to the pre-show? #aside

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Film review — Pitch Black

Vin Diesel and company walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And the results are much better then I remembered. I’d forgotten Keith David is in this. The accents give it an Ozploitation vibe. Also, very smart to hide the bad turn-of-the-century CGI under cover of darkness. More…

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I just genuinely laughed, teary eyes and all, at a Season 34 Simpsons gag. Please send help #aside

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Nearly got run off the road three times on what should be an easy ride from my house to the Marshes. I can’t make myself any safer. This is all on you, drivers. Sort your side out #aside

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Now that’s what I call a thunderstorm #aside

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So the first #AEWCollision was decent: Andrade/Murphy had a MOTY candidate; Kevin Kelly’s expectedly good on commentary; they’re building CM Punk to be a face in Chicago and a heel everywhere else, à la Bret in ’97, it seems? #aside

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Film review — Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story

It’s nice to get a glimpse of the man beyond his most iconic role, of course, but the best part is in the opening minutes where we get to see old photos of a young Robbie Englund hamming it up with his family and in early school theatre larks. Other than that it’s a fairly rote, superficial biography for a talent who really does deserve more. More…

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Was just looking up M3 Parkway on Google Maps, as you do, and I have a question: Can someone explain why there’s a bunch of old London buses with Dunboyne destination signs? #aside

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Maybe my brain’s melted from watching 11 films in two days but I’m pretty enthused about getting stuck into Starfield this autumn #aside

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Film review — Heaven & Hell

A Kenny Omega-looking cop with a Vince Russo accent gets brain damage from bullet wounds that gives him psychic powers and lets him commune with angels. Or something. In a film written and directed by its star, shot in the mid ’90s, ‘fixed’ in post to look like ’70s grindhouse trash and not released until 2018. I’m sorry that makes it sound more exciting than it actually is. More…

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Film review — Hostage: Missing Celebrity

Fantastically paced and fraught kidnap thriller with some astoundingly visceral action scenes and even a reality angle (the lead plays himself). Why this didn’t get a boost beyond Korea I have no idea. More…

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Film review — The Legend of Zipang

I was quite enjoying this (Rockabilly swordsman! Yuri the Pistol! Gun ninja! Shiny ninja! That elephant!) until about halfway through when it turned into The Holy Mountain. They managed to pull it back for the ending, though. More…

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Film review — The Executioner II: Karate Inferno

This one’s played far more broadly than its predecessor, with decidedly mixed results. It really depends on your tolerance for Sonny Chiba and company’s goofball antics (not to mention that bloody whistle on the soundtrack). The only genuinely great gag in the whole thing comes just minutes in and it’s pretty much all downhill from there. Except whenever Yutaka Nakajima’s on screen. You know what I mean. More…

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Turns out I’ll be seeing Codeine, Full of Hell and BIG|BRAVE live within the span of eight days in a few months’ time #aside

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Film review — Rocky II

My brain needed some comfort food, and this fit the bill. To give you an example of where my head was at: when Rocky proposes to Adrian at the zoo and shouts a wedding invitation to the tiger, I was disappointed not to see it in the pews in the next scene. More…

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