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

Date: August 2020

I see Keith Lee has to wear a top now because god forbid we see a bare barrel chest on the main roster #aside

###

It’s just dawned on me, there’s a lot of Honey Bubble in Q And Not U’s Power. Or maybe that’s just in my head #aside

###

There’s a 20th anniversary reissue of Blonde Redhead’s Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, which I bought on CD when it first came out. No, you’re old #aside

###

Really looking forward to the online Tusk Festival; check out this incredible lineup > @tusk_music #aside

###

Anyone else watching the cricket? I’ve seen Pakistan twice before (well, once, the second one was rained out) and they also wear green, so they’ve got my loyalty #aside

###

Just squeaked by Chapter One in Yakuza 0 and you know what? It’s a bit good #aside

###

Playing a record I bought 19 years ago and that, I’m pretty sure, was never previously spun since it came with a free CD > @MacDara #aside

###

Film review — Initial D

Here’s a real misstep from the writer-director partnership responsible for Infernal Affairs: a curiously low-energy adaptation of the popular boy racer manga that doesn’t transplant the action to Hong Kong despite using an all Cantonese-speaking cast (bar one Japanese woman whose lines are clumsily dubbed, and whose character falls into misogynist tropes). I wouldn’t be surprised if Justin Lin watched this while making Tokyo Drift and felt the pressure lift. More…

###

Film review — The Heroine

This one’s on Netflix as Young Tiger. Why, I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that it’s a frustratingly haphazard crime thriller, with a missing purse McGuffin, that feels every moment of its hour and 20 minutes and then some. It’s got Jackie Chan in a minor role as a heel with a comedy mole stuck to his cheek, and he only busts out one stunt: a car roof grab performed at a sedate 10mph or so. It’s also got taxis like the Toyota Corolla my grandad drove in the ’80s so I didn’t entirely waste my time. More…

###

I just remembered there’s a big New Japan show tomorrow morning so that’s my day slightly brightened #aside

###

Film review — Changing Lanes

Putting the film’s core macho rivalry aside, there’s a real whiff of MRA fantasy bullshit from Samuel L Jackson’s hard-done-by working stiff, and a depressing resignation to late-stage capitalistic amorality surfacing the road to Damascus for Ben Affleck’s Wall Street lawyer type. More…

###

Very hopeful of New West to save my shopping cart for me but postage alone for the new Pylon box set is $75 so that won’t be happening #aside

###

I cry foul at the inclusion of The Futureheads (and Maximo Park) on this list! > @alan_maguire #aside

###

Anyone else get that July travel form in the post? I went to Newry for a couple of hours but the form asks for county, not place, so I had to guess I was on the Armagh side and not the Down side #aside

###

Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible, I think. It’s as unflinching as its reputation suggests but they didn’t see the latter half, steeped in sadness > @c0mmunicants #aside

###

You just know Phil Hogan’s that arsehole who feels hard done by; he’s absolutely resigning with gritted teeth #aside

###

I’m not going to share that Irish Times tweet b/c it doesn’t need the clicks; suffice it to say it suggests social media metrics matter more than media ethics > @MacDara #aside

###

Gutted at the news about Power Trip’s Riley Gale. By all accounts the kind of person we needed more of in this world #aside

###

I’m not watching SummerSlam ’cause I dropped the Network last month but I’ll just say this: the ThunderDome doesn’t work without Green Shirt Guy and Long Haired Simon and his mom in the front row #aside

###

Still waiting for Dynamite to start on @FiteTV; not a great start to my subscription, I’ve gotta say #aside

###

What happens when a government press release has an embargo(?!) and you break it? You have to put your fingers in your ears whenever the Taoiseach speaks or something? #aside

###

Film review — Hollow Man

After a string of important (if not always financially successful) Hollywood statements, Paul Verhoeven made this, an adaptation of The Invisible Man where the title could also reference its conspicuous lack of substance — on first impression, anyway. The script and structure are at least partly to blame; two or three minor setups or dialogue tweaks could have avoided mounting confusion with character motivations that makes this film seem overly hurried and much sillier than it ought to be. More…

###

Listening to White Pony for the first time in forever and… why did they reissue it with ’Back to School’ as the first track? It doesn’t gel with the mood at all > @MacDara #aside

###

Kind of need to go out for groceries and stuff but it’s raining tomorrow so that’s ruled that out #aside

###

Let’s not get hung up on one or two or 10 people’s ‘errors of judgement’ here. It’s the prevailing attitude that this class can do what they like, that they’re immune figuratively and literally > @MacDara #aside

###

This thing with the golf function and the ‘two separate events’ excuse: they really think they’re cute fuckers. And they’ll do even worse if we let them get away with it > @MacDara #aside

###

There’s a solid argument to be made that Deftones were never nu-metal and that they only get that label because of tangential links to the scene #aside

###

I’ve seen so many of these; do drivers think blocking the footpath is a loophole to avoid getting done for parking on double yellows? > @susy_butler #aside

###

Re the Irish government and Covid-19: you all know the messaging is deliberately confused, right? That’s the 21st-century right wing playbook #aside

###

I passed this couple again on the way home from the shops just now, but this time they moved into single file > @MacDara #aside

###

The local fleapit reopens tomorrow, with all the movies they were showing back in March before they shut #aside

###

There goes my theory they were recycling an IP they already owned from the WCW purchase > @411wrestling #aside

###

If it’s true Renee Young has handed in her notice with WWE, I can’t blame her in the slightest and she can only go on to bigger and better things #aside

###

John Carpenter’s The Thing; it gives me profound ‘I don’t want to be here any more’ feelings > @AlishaGrauso #aside

###

Film review — Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo goes Taken as a western, with surprisingly satisfying if gratuitously visceral results. It’s also got the smarts to keep its right-wing politics in its back pocket, though there’s no mistaking its racist, imperialistic worldview. More…

###

The problem with this poll is that it deals in absolutes, and the result only raises further questions (Why do you feel that way? What about the state of the industry brought you to that conclusion?) > @allan_cheapshot #aside

###

Seven years after I bought it at the launch gig, I’m spinning Rest’s I Hold the Wolf on a turntable as good as it deserves #aside

###

We already knew they were obsessed with tweets thanks to @Tupp_Ed but… What an utter waste of resources > @ellenmcoyne > @MacDara #aside

###

Two bats in the garden! Never saw more than one before #aside

###

That awful racist assault on the Royal Canal happened in Leo’s constituency, didn’t it? #aside

###

Two hundred new cases. A number we wouldn’t have if not for governmental inaction #aside

###

The mugginess has crept up to Dundalk and it’s given me a splitting headache to boot #aside

###

We’ve all known Mark Kozelek is a Bad Person for years now, certainly from public abusive behaviour, and the latest news is unsurprising > @MacDara #aside

###

Leo’s tweet is just another in an utterly predictable line of digs at SF, it’s so BORING. The only issue on anyone’s minds should be yesterday’s illegal eviction. Keep it in conversation, never let them forget #aside

###

Finally, four-and-a-half months after I first placed an order, I have a vinyl copy of Mamaleek’s Come & See in my possession #aside

###