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

Important thread here on the media’s deficiencies in data journalism w/r/t Covid-19 > @sallylepage #tweet

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Finally getting around to spinning the vinyl reissue of Pylon’s Chomp I got a couple of weeks ago and it sounds pretty fantastic #tweet

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What’s going on, Dundalk? The lights are out in half the town and there’s a bunch of fire appliances on Demesne Road #tweet

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I think this thread gets it spot-on regarding what’s happening, and what’s about to happen: paying for a merry Xmas with a decidedly unhappy New Year > @Antcon7062 #tweet

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Got a missed call a while ago; returned the call but the person said they never rang me. That happen to anyone else? #tweet

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Eir complaints in the news remind me of my own Eir story, since sure don’t we all have one at this stage? 1/14 > @MacDara #tweet

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Film review — What Have They Done to Your Daughters?

It’s got all the makings of a giallo classic — an outrageously lurid plot, a masked marauder with a giant knife, and a bleak-as-anything ending — but doesn’t execute any of it to the high standard set by the genre’s most memorable offerings. More…

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I’ve only got one full week in work on my calendar before Xmas and that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that… ever? #tweet

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It’s great that the vaccine trials are suggesting 90% immunity, but you know what already gives 90% immunity? Social distancing with masks on #tweet

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I concur. This is absolutely rotten. Forget ‘history won’t be kind…’ etc; right now the BBC is a propaganda mouthpiece for hatred > @KatyMontgomerie #tweet

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Film review — Manhattan Baby

An ancient Egyptian curse? Child possession? A man pecked to death by taxidermied birds? It doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it’s a Lucio Fulci horror movie, so whatcha gonna do? More…

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I was really disappointed last year when my Liger figure got stuck in shipping limbo for weeks. But Ringside Collectibles have upped their game since: yesterday I received two more Ligers to complete my collection in a matter of days. I’m not a fig guy but these are real beauties > @MacDara #tweet

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I read about this match in PWI of all places, the August 1992 issue I think? > @BAHUFMW > @MacDara #tweet

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Film review — Cobra

Cobra is brilliant, isn’t it? The first 40 minutes, and the hellish symbolism of the climactic fight scene, retain a powerfully unsettling weirdness even after all these years. The story does kind of lose its way once it’s taken out of the city and becomes more conventional Cannon action fodder, alas. If it had gone all-in on the murderous cult angle, we’d be talking about all-time classic; as it is, though, it remains criminally underrated. More…

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USPS shipped a package for me from St Louis to Ireland in a week, which is frankly stellar service. But it’s been sitting in Dublin since Monday… #tweet

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Tomorrow evening I go grocery shopping and get to try out Apple Pay for the first time. Oh the excitement! > @MacDara #tweet

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What will it take for the govt to support Dublin Zoo? Turn the animals loose on each other so Paddy Power can give odds on the winners? #tweet

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I ordered mine today; it’s the only wrestling periodical I consider a must-get > @atomic_elbow #tweet

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Big mail day here today after a week-plus in limbo: the new Pylon reissues and my very own copy of Saccharine Trust’s Surviving You, Always #tweet

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Film review — Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

I didn’t know who Al Adamson was before this, though his reputation (at least through titles like Satan’s Sadists) preceded him in my experience. Of all of these rose-tinted nostalgia docs about B-movie mavens, I think the Adamson story comes the closest to Roger Corman in terms of the end results living up to the passion that drove it all. And then it’s set apart by the man’s life ending in a manner that could be straight out of one of his own pictures. More…

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Film review — Xtro

It’s not your average Alien rip-off, that’s for sure. There is a very tangible sense of effort to make something meaningful here, beyond the often amateurish performances and other deficiencies, and I can see why that sticks with people. More…

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This isn’t quite how it happened, but it says a lot about the company’s public perception that most people assumed she was fired by tweet > @OSWreview #tweet

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I didn’t feel like drinking last night, but at some point today I will be making that Dark ’n’ Stormy I’ve been thinking about much of the week #tweet

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The world is Zelina Vega’s oyster #tweet

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Six days in transit from northern Italy and the LP I bought on eBay is finally in the country. I guess it was coming by horse or flock of pigeons or something #tweet

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Got an email from Amazon: Xbox Series X now available to order! Price in the email says £649; that’s not the RRP, hmm? Click through to the page; now it’s £999 from a Marketplace seller? FUUUUUCK THAT #tweet

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Seeing the reactions in the markets to that ‘vaccine’ news… Come on, like #tweet

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That new Raspberry Pi with our spare monitor and a Bluetooth soundbar would make a nice streaming box/retro gaming machine #tweet

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I’ve spent the evening watching Power Struggle and it was… fine. Main event shenanigans aside, you can tell Naito cares about salvaging the whole EVIL situation #tweet

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Apropos of nothing, I also had a rescue dog named Major. He wasn’t a German shepherd, though #tweet

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The last few years I couldn’t bear seeing or hearing that orange goblin; even people doing impressions make me wince. But now he’s a proven loser I can’t wait to see the look on his whiny baby mug. Go figure #tweet

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Less than a week after I ordered it, I’ve got a near-mint copy of Confession by The Last in my possession! #tweet

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Had to pull the trigger on this since I missed out before and regretted it > @SKiNGRAFT_Rex #tweet

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I can’t help but notice the only night the local brats have skipped setting off explosives was the Fifth of November… #tweet

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I’m no good for music recommendations this week but this thread should see you right > @mike_mcgb #tweet

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Just received our last electricity bill of the year. We’re almost there, people! #tweet

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I’ve got a swelling throat and a pounding headache so early to bed it is, then #tweet

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If one were to need to get bloods at a Dublin hospital a week before Level 5 is currently set to end, is that still happening? #tweet

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“Nick?… Niiiiick?!… You come down here this minute Double Nickels on the Dime!” > @lfchamy #tweet

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One of the bad things about using a third-party app for Twitter is not seeing at-replies from people I don’t follow. One of the good things about using a third-party app for Twitter is not seeing at-replies from people I don’t follow #tweet

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Film review — Chopping Mall

The better half of my ‘kids in the mall’ double bill, but only just. I’d say it was ripe for a remake, but do kids even hang out in malls any more? I mean besides the Covid lockdowns; it’s not really a thing these days, is it? Although Bee did tell me a while ago about hipsters hiding out in IKEA to have parties in the showroom after hours, so maybe there’s scope for a flatpack killbot flick… IKEA? More like I-KILL-YA amirite? More…

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It’s been quite something seeing everyone finally come around, after who knows how many years, to the notion that Greenwald is A Bit Sus #tweet

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