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

I mean, I think I’d probably hide in a fridge to avoid Piers Morgan, but I’m not the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom #tweet

First it was Chic last summer, then Lionel Richie announced for next year, and now Duran Duran? In the park down the road from where I grew up? This topsy turvy world is too much #tweet

Feel like this needs reiterating this morning. Can’t imagine why... > @MacDara #tweet

Just the worst news. René was fantastic as Odo of course but he was a regular voice actor, too, and he was an Altman guy in the ’70s > @bigmonsterlove #tweet

Maciej Cegłowski on ‘the siege of Carrie Lam’

“Carrie Lam is a Theresa May-like figure who seems to thrive on a performative stoicism, standing firm in the face of a self-inflicted crisis that a more capable politician would simply wiggle out of. She is a tragic figure in the same way that a pilot who points the nose of the aircraft at a mountain and refuses to listen to the passengers screaming for her to turn is a tragic figure. You puzzle over her motives while also wishing that someone, anyone, would throw her out of the plane.” Great analysis here on the protest the west has seemingly put behind it (because if the markets are untroubled…). #link

Looking up the setlist from a recent Jawbox show and it seems my favourite songs are some of theirs too #tweet

Weaknotes for w/e 7 December 2019

Lots of work this week, plus a visit to the doctor and a trip to IKEA. Not a lot of time for much else. I’m still watching The Irishman, as it happens, but it’s not unusual for me to watch films in chunks over days so I wouldn’t read too much into that.

Passed on an invite to the Star Wars presser as I’ve got a date at the aquarium. Hashtag priorities #tweet

Is it really 18 years since I went to see her play with Quasi, the first band to play the then-revamped Ambassador? (Yes, it is) > @MacDara #tweet

I’ve said it before: you could be lit up like the brightest Xmas tree and it won’t matter a jot if the driver isn’t looking > @NicolaBardon #tweet

Page me when the IFA blockades a Dunnes distribution centre, ‘cause there’s something about their about their choices so far that I can’t quite put my finger on… #tweet

No point sharing my Spotify thing as it’s basically Palm’s Rock Island on repeat plus a ream of things from all over the place I listened to for work-related purposes #tweet

Listening to Janet Weiss recall her fangirling over George Hurley is really warming my heart right now #tweet

Suggested changes for the next season of NWA Power: bring back that mid-‘80s green and blue ring apron, and don’t book Bram #tweet

If the George’s Dock rafting story does anything, I hope it encourages all of us to actively engage in what our councils do, or are supposed to do. And I mean their entire remit, not just the one or two issues that manage to capture attention > @MacDara #tweet

I can’t breathe through my nose and I’m out of Otrivine so this day is starting just swell #tweet

Did Van Halen have any hits in this part of the world other than ‘Jump’? #tweet

I was watching The Irishman with Chrome and the background artifacting was atrocious, on both Mac and PC. Switched to Edge on the PC and it’s grand now. WTF is up with Google’s video codec for Chrome? #tweet

I couldn’t get past the first song on the new Cattle Decapitation, it’s so feckin’ cheesy. Just play the new Exhumed or something actually good like that #tweet

VPN is giving me a headache so I’ll have to watch AEW Dynamite the old-fashioned way #tweet

Please go to this gig in Dublin on Saturday night because I cannot > @odubhda #tweet

Still waiting for this, as there remains a lack of clarity over what ‘printer’ means in this context (books/brochures vs general office stuff) > @MacDara #tweet

Typical that the Graves ‘apology’ is a non-apology as he takes no real ownership over what he tweeted, or why he tweeted it > @MacDara #tweet

Someone please point me to any news story over the last few days that explains why Leinster House has ever needed its own printing press? > @MacDara #tweet

Bump for the morning crowd! Enlarged Heart Radio #27 is streaming with guitars and drums and things that aren’t guitars or drums > @MacDara #tweet

Lost my bike lights between Dublin and Dundalk so had to walk my bike home. I’m not in a good mood tonight > @MacDara #tweet

Film review — Honey Boy

No time to write up a proper review of this one, but I have thoughts. Mostly around the idea of this being yet another narrative of familial abuse and estrangement where redemption is achieved through reconnection and forgiveness as if that path is mandatory. Honey Boy presents itself as something different, and to be fair it’s remarkably staged and beautifully shot, with performances that deserve awards attention for going where you might not expect. (And yes, I know it’s Shia LaBeouf adapting his own relationship with his father for the screen.) But in essence it’s as clichéd as the rest of ’em. And that cliché, an almost bullying edict (‘You must forgive your parents even if they’ve been extraordinarily shitty to you!’), is not something I care to stomach. More…

That’s my Jawbox ticket sorted, so. Not even sure if I’m going yet but hey, just in case #tweet

The NWA Power feature on Thunder Rosa’s MMA debut was excellent stuff. Now watching AEW Dark to complete Tuesday night wrestling #tweet

Gallows humour does not preclude empathy #tweet

I’m honestly baffled by Brock Lesnar in 2019. What was the point of that match with Rey last night? What’s the point of anything he’s involved in? What’s the intended reaction? #tweet

Carefully avoiding tweeting about the things that don’t need the oxygen but trust me, I’ve got Opinions #tweet

WWE making another company’s talent a part of their own storyline is such a bullshit power move and only shows how rattled they are #tweet

Fruit from supermarket shelves is almost uniformly awful. Unripe bananas, pears that taste like papier-mâché? Blecch > @jonbecker_ #tweet

Ugh, I hate the new Intercontinental Championship belt #tweet

Thread about cycling in Ireland for the motorists we’re supposed to ‘share the road’ with > @conndonovan9 #tweet

There’s my grindcore feature looking all fancy with the new @Bandcamp Daily layout > @Bandcamp #tweet

Catching up on the last two weeks of NXT ahead of TakeOver tomorrow. Y’know, adding the 205 guys to the roster was a really smart move, they’re larger than life in that environment #tweet

I graduated with a 2.1 in Critical Analytical Career Skills from UCD. Waiting for the corporate recruiters to come calling. Any day now... > @faduda #tweet

The question we should be asking is, who radicalised knock-off Carol Vorderman? #tweet