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

Date: July 2021

Bray Wyatt’s release is absolutely a result of WWE’s deficiencies and not anything Bray did or didn’t do > @MacDara #aside

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Film review — Jungle Cruise

Both a pale shadow of its influences (almost entirely absent the ‘mild peril’ that makes them so memorable) and so close to the Platonic ideal of a theme-park movie. The blatant artificiality of the environment even helps in regard to the latter. More…

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Someone on the road outside has the kind of cough that makes me want to wear a hazmat suit #aside

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Haven’t paid attention to baseball this year for various reasons but I’ve just seen the Mets are having a winning season and I’m tempted to sub to MLB.tv again #aside

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John Brutal. I mean Bruton. But seriously, who looks to Irish establishment politicians for examples of leadership and management? 🤣 > @jonnyfallon #aside

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Ugh, why didn’t I document how to renew my SSL cert when I installed it the first time last year? #aside

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Watching this week’s AEW Dynamite, the only wrestling show anyone needs to be watching right now #aside

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Fell into watching Japan dismantle the USA in the softball medal game. Literally the first thing I’ve watched this Olympics bar a moment here or there #aside

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Best thing about the new Jackass movie is Watt and Georgie cashin’ those cheques #aside

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That “Aha!” moment when you realise your website looks weird b/c a plugin dev changed an ID to a class #aside

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Jokes don’t come much funnier than Jackie Mason’s one about Frank Sinatra. But also, his politics were reprehensible. So there you go #aside

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Deeply unpleasant experience at the Avenue Rd @lidl_ireland trying to avoid a blatantly unmasked couple (one of them pregnant ffs) #aside

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Film review — Sister Street Fighter

She’s a street fighter, alright, and also a house fighter, a dungeon fighter, a mountain fighter, a rope-bridge fighter…there’s never a dull moment. And it’s ridiculously well composed for what’s essentially an exploitation cash-in. More…

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Just tried and failed to buy a Bob Mould ticket on Tickets.ie; says my card info is invalid even though I just updated it > @MacDara #aside

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Okay, you twisted my arm, I’ll add one more Liger fig to my collection > @RingsideC #aside

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Do I wanna get tickets to see Bob Mould in January? #aside

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Turns out, making tutorial screen recordings is really hard #aside

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Only got my second shot four days ago and they’ve already sent me my travel cert. That’s jumping the gun, isn’t it? #aside

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This weather has me craving Starburst Joosters something fierce #aside

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First WWE PPV with a live crowd in 16 months and it’s not quite the same without Long-Haired Simon in the front row. Never thought I’d say that… #aside

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Looks like the Arrow Player is available in Ireland now, as I just subbed without issue #aside

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Turns out, it only made my arm useless for 24 hours and the soreness is mostly gone > @MacDara #aside

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The heat’s really got to me: I just impulse-bought a salad spinner #aside

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It’s a bit warm #aside

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Three hours after shot #2 and, like clockwork, my arm starts hurting. Guess it’s gonna be useless till Monday, so #aside

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I’m delighted to be getting my second vaccine dose tomorrow, but it’s not the panacea everyone thinks it is. Still a 10-20% chance of catching Delta? Let’s get real > @MacDara #aside

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Is there a reason why macOS Chrome has become unbearably slow since a couple of weeks ago? > @MacDara #aside

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Film review — Dead or Alive

Despite its many and varied excesses, this remains one of Takashi Miike’s more accessible Yakuza-themed crime thrillers. No, I’m deadly serious. Just think of the ending as a metaphor. More…

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First impressions of I Think You Should Leave: the wholesome stuff (biker aliens!) is way funnier than the surreal social transgression stuff > @MacDara #aside

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Picked up three box sets in the current Arrow sale. Curious to see what the VAT bill will be > @MacDara #aside

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Film review — First Cow

I was so not in the mood to watch this; my attention waned from time to time and it took me a while. Some stories require the right mindset more than others. Nevertheless it’s a beautiful film in its appreciation of nature, in its raw simplicity (that invites multiple readings), even in its agonising sadness. More…

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Treated myself to that new collab by The Body and BIG|BRAVE that’s out in September #aside

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Just got some great news that’s lifted a huge cloud of uncertainty. Isn’t it great when that happens? #aside

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Soaked right through in a cloudburst. There go my plans to hit the shops for groceries later #aside

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Revenue wrecking my buzz with an email reminder to pay and file my tax return. It’s not due till November, chill! #aside

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Hangman Page’s story is a simple one, really; simple stories work best in wrestling. It’s the commitment that makes the difference > @ChrisBrosnahan #aside

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Film review — Grunt! The Wrestling Movie

This could have been a cheap cash-in on the rock ’n’ wrestling craze. Instead it’s…a mockumentary? Like if Paul Bartel made This Is Spinal Tap but about the Los Angeles territory. So, more surreally, blackly humorous than laugh-out-loud funny, then. And it gasses out before the climactic battle royal, alas. But there’s such effort here for a subject that wasn’t accustomed to respect when The Wrestler came out in 2008, let alone when this appeared in 1985. That’s absolutely fascinating to me. More…

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I’m watching Grunt! The Wrestling Movie and I’m fascinated; it’s like if Paul Bartel made This Is Spinal Tap but about the LA territory #aside

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Made my version of a Vietnamese iced coffee: moka pot espresso and condensed milk over ice #aside

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My erstwhile @thumped colleague @ianmaleney worked on this documentary podcast about the youngest person to enter witness protection in Ireland > thewitnesspodcast.com #aside

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Film review — The Tomorrow War

Half this movie is dreary combat porn for FPS heads. The other half’s a bunch of cut scenes to spout dodgy totalitarian philosophy. Threaded through it is a plot that rips off everything from the Alien prequels to Arrival, of all things. The whole endeavour’s calculatedly cynical, without an ounce of wit to it. More…

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If I still had my Hitman shades I would’ve worn them today in his honour #aside

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