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


Date: October 2017

Watching the promoters lug Cradle of Filth’s rider round the back of the Academy. They like cheap lager, it seems #aside

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How Checkers Was Solved

“For Tinsley, the spiritualist, the metaphor of checkers as a well without end was both poetic and true. But Schaeffer, the engineer, knew that no well is bottomless. And humans will always sound the depth.” #link

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In other news, I found a software synth with a theremin function so I can make lots of beautiful noise #aside

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Started listening to the Hüsker Dü podcast, Dü You Remember, and it’s great stuff so far. Ep 1 is here: https://t.co/cOZfSDF4p8 #aside

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Who sets off fireworks in the middle of the afternoon? Weirdos in Dundalk, that’s who #aside

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People doing stuff ‘out of character’ when they’re drunk is only plausible if it happens once #aside

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Oh Kevin Spacey, it’s not about you #aside

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The age of banter

When you combine the refusal to take anything seriously with the refusal to take responsibility, this is what you get. #link

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Shopping for a cheap MIDI keyboard. Anyone I know use an Akai LPK 25? #aside

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Black holes could delete the Universe, apparently. But they’re also the ultimate hard drive. My head is spinning. [c/o Kottke.org#video

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Almost missed the postman despite running to the door but my Savage Young Dü box is here (and the 7” made it intact and all) #aside

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Whenever someone says all music ever is streamable, I remember most stuff released by the biggest US indie label of the 80s is lost to time #aside

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At that point when my concentration is so shot and my eyesight so messed up that I should really wrap things up for the night #aside

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The people GoFundMe leaves behind

“More than 90 percent of GoFundMe campaigns never meet their goal.” And for those who are successful, it’s as much a matter of luck as careful planning — even more so for those raising crisis funds, to pay for medical bills and the like. #link

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So it turns out I can kind of play Fifa? Even though I haven’t played it since the SNES in the ‘90s #aside

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To anyone moaning there was only one gimmick match at TLC: you know there’s only one Royal Rumble at the Royal Rumble, yeah? #aside

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Couldn’t stay awake after Bálor/Styles last night so I’m catching up with the rest of WWE TLC WTF now #aside

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The Meat Puppets play ‘Swimming Ground’ and ‘Maiden’s Milk’ on Phoenix local TV while promoting Up On The Sun. Still astounded at how fast Cris plays those bass melodies. #video

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Turn Jack Gallagher heel? That’s all well and good. But does he have to wrestle in that fucking herringbone suit? #WWETLC #aside

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Has Emma really never had a singles match on PPV before? That’s ridiculous #WWETLC #aside

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Strangely stoked for WWE TLC WTF tonight. But I do have to ask: is the Raw roster so thin that they had to rope in a ringer from SD? #aside

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Mark Korven composed the soundtrack of The Witch, and created that film’s eerie music with the Apprehension Engine, a device he envisaged along the lines of an acoustic Author & Punisher. [c/o Lowbrowculture#video

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Of all the things that annoy me about Alien: Covenant, I think the Slenderman Alien might be the worst #aside

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This brain is non-operational #aside

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#NowPlaying Daniel Levin - Living (solo improv cello; very much my bag right now) #aside

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It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the Egyptian authorities held Ibrahim Halawa a full month after he was acquitted #aside

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Good news everyone: my Hüsker Dü box is in the post! Counting the days now #aside

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And bullied by Terry Gilliam, which is no surprise if you ever read Sarah Polley's open letter to him a decade ago https://t.co/KoxppWQZEA #aside

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The church hall that became contemporary music’s hottest venue

The Guardian on Eamonn Quinn and his Louth Contemporary Music Society, which has brought some of the biggest names in new music right here to Dundalk. This summer he hosted the Silenzio festival, which I sadly missed despite the performances being a short walk from my house. Meanwhile, I can’t get over the notion of Philip Glass having a curry at a restaurant I pass by on my bicycle a few times a week. #link

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A History Of Violence

Tom Breihan delves into the art of the action movie, year by year since the birth of the genre (as he identifies it), in this superb AV Club column. [c/o Kottke.org#link

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The new @atomic_elbow has arrived wrapped in something resembling a fancy person’s wallpaper #aside

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