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

Date: September 2021

Soooo did anyone else here order The Body & BIG|BRAVE’s collab LP direct from Thrill Jockey? Supposed to be out but I haven’t heard a peep #aside

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New Carcass balances out the boring song titles (“Kelly’s Meat Emporium”? Meh) with one of their finest puns (“Eleanor Rigor Mortis”, ha!) #aside

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My pen is hovering over “‘Load shedding’ becomes part of the vernacular” on my Ireland in 2021 bingo card #aside

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Apparently I’m a “far-left extremist globalist”, according to some bigoted gobshite #aside

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Film review — Greta

That bit where the cop says Greta has the right to haunt Frances from across the street with a telephoto lens if she wants to? Kayfabe broken, fuck this movie. More…

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Slept better last night. Not great, but better. And the itching calmed down a lot today; Bee suggested balming with rooibos and it seems to have helped > @MacDara #aside

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No sleep two nights running and I still want to scratch my legs off but I managed to take a kind-of nap this morning so that’s a win, right? > @MacDara #aside

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So yeah, those insect bites? My legs are covered in massive incredibly itchy welts. Hydrocortisone cream and more antihistamines to the rescue, I hope > @MacDara #aside

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Almost missed the promo for the new Kowloon Walled City in my inbox! #aside

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Got bitten alive by invisible midges while mowing in the front garden yesterday evening. Now doing the back, oh joy! #aside

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Close-up of a Jushin Thunder Liger action figure

Got my green Liger fig from @RingsideC in this morning’s post and, er, I think there’s something missing… > @MacDara #image

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The otters are wonderful, but can we talk about the lord of the manor wearing a Neurosis shirt?? > @rtenews #aside

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Remember the old days? When people on here would talk like a pirate on the 19th of September? I miss that #aside

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I was only thinking the other day that I miss when AEW had their logo on the ring canvas, and then they go and make my dream come true on last night’s Rampage #aside

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Screw Radio. Didn’t even care it was basically an endless loop of Fatso Jetson’s ‘Bored Stiff’, El Bad’s Warp’ and that one Oxbow song > @intrnetdaughter #aside

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Film review — Spandex Sapiens

This almost-documentary follows the exploits of a man who straddles multiple worlds. Michael Majalahti grew up in Canada but lives in Finland, the homeland of his preacher father. He’s got the kind of career kids sometimes imagine for themselves: a rock singer by day and pro wrestler by night (or is that the other way round?). He’s a nifty comic artist in the Jerry Lawler school, too. Oh, and he’s also a sexist jerk with really narrow-minded if not toxic ideas about masculinity. More…

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Film review — Sisters with Transistors

Wonderful to put faces and voices to sounds I’ve been reading about in The Wire for many years. However, it feels contradictory to complain that Wendy Carlos refused to transcend the musical forms of dead white men by performing Bach on synths, when Delia Derbyshire’s best known for the distinctly melodious theme for Doctor Who and Suzanne Ciani made a living from advertising jingles. If your thesis is “the avant-garde versus mainstream expectations of what music is”, then maybe stick with it? More…

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I’ve got a sudden urge to watch Rich Hall’s cinema documentaries. Are they on iPlayer or do I have to scrounge them up by … other means? #aside

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Come and See is phenomenal so I’m really looking forward to this > @TheFlenser #aside

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Different levels of fame here, but: Mike Watt (generous with his time and thoughts), Michael Wincott (unfazed by a credit card snafu) and Gerard Butler (20 years ago; seemed excited to be known, but in a sound way) > @DanDotLewis #aside

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Thread; our govt has no interest in the people’s needs, but every interest in maximising private profit > @RobJCurley #aside

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I see everyone’s positivity and I want to share it … I want WWE to prove me wrong, that they won’t screw over Big E #aside

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Film review — New Order

It’s bleak because each of these horrors has happened somewhere in the world in my lifetime and will probably continue to happen. Because power corrupts. More…

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First time out on my bike in over a week and within minutes I was dangerously close-passed. It’s a disease, it really is #aside

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If all you’ve ever watched of wrestling is WWE—where all the kinetics are in the shaky/zoomy cam shots and flash cuts—I can see why other companies’ visual styles might look comparatively sedate and “overexpose how fake it looks” #aside

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Film review — Malignant

I’ll be charitable about the “giallo” thing as maybe that reviewer was reaching for “grand guignol”? Anyway, this is basically a mashup of Cronenbergian Henenlotterian body horror and De Palma-esque plot fuckery turned up to 11. More…

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Film review — Retribution

A suicidal artist gets possessed by the spirit of a vengeful mobster. That’s the plot, in a nutshell, but Retribution is a lot more than that. For one thing, it’s got that same New Yawk scuzz that makes Street Trash such a treat (even though it’s set in LA?). More…

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The difference now is that back then, the WWF and WCW were competing for the same market: people who watch wrestling. WWE’s market today is B2B, and they’re making more money than ever (on paper) so there’s no incentive to change > @PuroPodcast > @MacDara #aside

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Someone please remind me I need to stop putting it off and pay & file my tax this month #aside

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Nice to see all the love for the reunion of a band named after a Minutemen lyric #aside

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Film review — Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James

The film-makers dance around the question of whether Rick James became a monstrous asshole because of all the drugs, or whether he was attracted to the drugs because he was a monstrous asshole. But the talent is undeniable, as is the fact that racism made him a one-hit wonder in the general historical record. More…

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As excited as anyone else for #AEWAllOut but I won’t get to see it till tomorrow evening so I should probably stay off Twitter starting now > @MacDara #aside

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Film review — FM

I guess one person’s independent, counter-culture spirit is another’s corporate AOR with a side of rampant sexism. Just think that while these goobers were jamming to Jimmy Buffett, somewhere about 20 miles away the bands that would become Black Flag and the Minutemen were woodshedding for a real revolution. More…

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Film review — Yakuza Princess

Here’s a neat idea squandered. A lot less forgettable “my past…my destiny” drama clichés and a lot more of that flashy, occasionally inventive action might’ve done the trick. As would’ve cutting about 20 minutes. More…

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Hey you know what? That Stardom pre-show match was great. More of that, please #njwgsDay1 > @MacDara #aside

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Antigen test arrived this afternoon … and it’s negative. Phew! > @MacDara #aside

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This is some seriously unethical BS and the Belfast Telegraph should be embarrassed for publishing it > @BelTel #aside

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I’ve woken up with a sore throat, which might be allergies but it’s also a symptom of Delta. So can I get tested? Not unless you’re gonna teleport me to Ardee > @MacDara #aside

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