Sunday, March 31, 2002

It's so humid. Can't concentrate. Need to do work. No. Energy. Left....... Help.

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Saturday, March 30, 2002

Not much to post lately. Busy trying to write stuff and read and study and get projects finished and organise my time effectively. The UCD library OPAC went down a few days ago which basically means I'm fucked for finding library references for my essay (unless I spend Tuesday afternoon rummaging around after classes, which I'm planning to do). I know what I want to write, and I'll get it done on time, but I can't help feeling that I've been screwed over. I asked for an extention, just to ask (better to ask than not, I say), but Dr. Komito turned me down. Of course, I can see it from his point of view - regards giving me a personal extention - but would it not be fair to give the whole class a two-day amnesty? Then again, I wouldn't be complaining if I did the essay a week ago, would I? Ahh, to hell with it. So what if I don't stick to his reading list? Any of the books that I did find by chance aren't that much of a help for what I want to write anyway. And besides, I don't really agree with the essay question. You'll see what I mean when I (hopefully) stick it online next week.

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Wednesday, March 27, 2002

I did it. I walked from Howth, over the hill, to my house. I don't know how far it is, but I'm sure it's more than six, probably less than eight miles.

I took loads of photos. I shall post them as soon as I develop and scan them.

I also got sunburnt. Not too badly, 'cause my face looks reddish most of the time anyway (since my skin is so pale), but still....

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Tuesday, March 26, 2002

The WWF talent draft was last night, I forgot to check the results when I got home this morning. I dunno, I'm very suspicious. I'm not sure if it's going to work. For example, the Dudley Boys as a team are no more, and Chris Benoit and RVD (a dream match for me) are in opposing divisions. But maybe they'll mix it up for pay-per-views. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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You know what? I still can't believe I went to WrestleMania this year. It's like my life-long dreams and ambitions are being fulfilled too quickly.

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It's 5:30am. I just got home a little while ago, toasted myself some chocolate chip Eggo waffles (is that where 'Leggo My Eggo!' comes from?). It was good getting out of the taxi; the sun is creeping up over Howth, the birds have been singing for the last hour or so, and the small of cocoa from the Cadbury factory fills the air. Mmmmmm.

Now the dilemma: I'm actually quite awake right at this moment, but I could crash any minute. Should I go to bed and potentially sleep late (which I don't wanna do) or stay awake and walk around like a zombie later this afternoon? I suppose either way I'm fucked, but I guess I'd rather be awake than comatose. At least then I'd be able to complain to somebody about it.

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Monday, March 25, 2002

Ohmygod! Was I dreaming or did I just see Jello Biafra on the Oscars?! The motherfucker sold out!

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I've added the first few of my WrestleMania X-8 pics to my photo album. Enjoy!

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Sunday, March 24, 2002

I knew there was something I missed while I was in Canada - Iron Chef! I even had access to the Food Network and everything! D'oh!

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Saturday, March 23, 2002

While I'm on the subject of wrestling, last night BBC Two broadcast Gaea Girls, a 'documentary' following the trials and tribulations of a young woman trying to break into the world of women's professional wrestling in Japan. I eagerly set the video, expecting it to be an enlightened look behind the curtain of the wrestling world in the vein of Beyond The Mat. What I eventually saw was very disappointing and to be honest, also downright misleading.

Take as a given that professional wrestling in all parts of the world - from the theatrical product of the United States to the acrobatics of Mexican luchadores and the technical proficiency of the Orient - is based on the premiss that all matches are worked (that is, loosely pre-scripted - in most cases NOT choreographed - with the end results pre-determined, and the wrestlers performing practiced moves on each other and selling their effects as if they were really hurt or injured) unless it is explicit that they are shoots (or real contests of skill, like Ultimate Fighting - I would say boxing, but it's all politics now, isn't it?).

One must also take into account that the viewing public must suspend disbelief when they watch a wrestling show on TV, much like one would watching Star Trek or something. The overall presentation of professional wrestling consists of 'angles' (storylines or plot devices) that are in reality not true of course, just like Star Trek, but to immerse yourself within the entertainment spectacle that wrestling is, you take as truisms. This is called 'kayfabe'. Exposing the reality behind the scripts and storylines is known as 'breaking kayfabe' (this is a relatively recent phenomenon, made much more popular by the advent of the Internet).

Now with this knowledge watching this film (which - unlike Beyond The Mat - let alone did not break kayfabe, it didn't even acknowledge it) is without doubt a frustrating experience. A great deal of the film showed a trainee in the GAEA Japan dojo, Saika Takeuchi, being brutalised in the ring by her trainers in so-called 'sparring' bouts, in preparation for her professional debut. In one scene, she performs a number of running dropkicks in quick succession on her trainer Meiko Satomura (who incidentally made the big time last December by 'winning' the WWWA title from the legendary Aja Kong) which seem to have no effect whatsoever. The 'documentary' made out that this was because she was rubbish at delivering dropkicks (which was odd since as a wrestling fan of twelve years, I know a bad dropkick when I see one and hers were pretty damn good). What the filmmakers failed (or refused) to recognise was that her trainer was simply not selling her dropkicks. The majority of wrestling maneuvers are desgined not to inflict serious injury, which a real flying kick to the chest would almost certainly result in, which explains why it takes equal effort to make a wrestling bout - one to perform the move, the other to sell it. Wrestling is all about stylised violence, making high-impact combat look good. Takeuchi's trainer purposefully made her look bad by not selling, which is extremely unprofessional, but the 'documentary' made out that Takeuchi was the unprofessional one.

It just got worse from then on. I won't even bother to get into it, it's merely more of the same, with the documentary team maintaining kayfabe throughout and ultimately only serving to reinforce the negative perception of professional wrestling in the mass media.

Maybe the makers of this terrible excuse for a documentary thought that no one would care. Hey, I can almost hear them say, it's only wrestling after all. But do I even need to say that that's no excuse?

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Ratcatcher is on BBC Two right now.

I wonder if William Eadie, who plays the film's main protagonist, realises that he shares his name with Ax of Demolition.

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I have now completely moved my site to the Tripod server. Everything appears to be running smoothly. Yay!

Remember, the new address is https://macdaraconroy.tripod.com/; the old address will redirect here, although it's a tad slow (it appears Geocities have a bug in their shitty ad pop-up Javascript).

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Friday Five number ten (slightly later than usual):

1. What is your favorite time of year?

I don't know really. I like the summer when it's not humid, but when it is humid I despise it. I dunno... since the greenhouse effect has fucked up our seasonal patterns so much here that we get any kind of weather at any time of year (often four seasons' worth in the same day, as exemplified by one day a few weeks ago when we had snow in the morning, rain at lunchtime, and summer sunshine with an autumn breeze in the afternoon), the only thing that really changes is the number or hours of sunlight we get each day (and of course, sunlight - as much as I'm allergic to it - is a good thing).

2. What is it about your favorite season that, well, makes it your favorite season?

We don't have seasons here anymore. See above.

3. What is your least favorite time of year? Why?

Winter. I don't like November. The days get shorter, the nights get longer, the weather gets worser, and my deadlines get tighter. December is only marginally better because my university lets us off for a month, but since thsi is my final year that luxury is gone forever. Or at least until I retire.

4. Do you do anything to celebrate or recognize the changing of seasons?

No, I don't. I'm not a hippie.

5. What's your favorite thing to do outside?

Sometimes I like to walk. I'm still planning my walk from Howth in a few days, when the weather turns less dull. Also, for the last week or so while I was in Toronto I got used to talking a lot of pictures. I might start bringing my camera around with me more often. I may even bring it to Howth with me.

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I was supposed to post this yesterday evening, but just didn't get around to it:

Friday afternoon now. The jetlag didn't hit me too bad, but I was in a bad way yesterday. Being quite tired and sore-necked from the travelling in bad seats and having a rotten gut from the Mexican food on Tuesday (wouldn't have had a problem if I hadn't've been sitting in a pressurised cabin for eight hours), when I discovered that something went wrong with my VCR and it didn't tape WrestleMania, the mixture turned combustive and I threw a bit of a wobbly, to put it mildly. But then I slept for seven hours and returned to my senses (I was at WrestleMania after all, so I think I can wait the few weeks 'til the DVD comes out). Stayed up for a while watching TV and having a little something to eat, then slept for another seven hours or so overnight. I don't think I've slept that much in one day in a long long time. No doubt I needed it.

I feel much better and refreshed today, and I've got the Godspeed You Black Emperor! gig to look forward to tonight. (Although I'm not much in the mood for standing, with my right foot - the soft flat part before the toes - quite strained and sore from my mad dash around Heathrow yesterday morning.)

I've got to get to work this weekend. I've got an essay due in 12 days and a project to get started, plus a whole lot of studying to plan and do. I read a bit of stuff while I was away, but the atmosphere wasn't really condusive to philosophical enquiry. (Hell, I couldn't even read for pleasure on the plane, what with the reclining seats in front of me and other related discomforts.) Lucky I don't have anything else to do for the next week-and-a-half, but I am hoping to see In The Bedroom and The Royal Tenenbaums next week.

I've got over 80 photos from the digital canera on a CD right here (thanks to Ethan) that I plan to post soon. I've also got about 40 pics taken with my 35mm zoom cam that I'll get developed as soon as I can be bothered. I went a wee bit mad with the photography, so I did. Thankfully some of it actually turned out okay. I will not, though, be bringing my camera to the gig tonight, since the security at the Ambassador are dicks.

Gig update: The show was loooong. I just didn't have the stamina to stay to the end. Godspeed got on stage around 9:30pm and they were still there after 11:20pm when I left. To be perfectly honest, I thought they started off really well, but it sagged incredibly after the first 50 minutes or so and (as much as I hate to say it) they bored me, and didn't kick back into the goodness for another half an hour, by which time my mind was made up and I just wanted to get home to bed. It was kinda the same thing with Explosions In The Sky last week, but at least they only played a three-quarters-of-an-hour set. Maybe it was the atmosphere that put me off - a lot of poseurs, a lot of yakkedy-yak people, a lot of smoke and a lot of heat (a few people fainted and got dragged out) - but I just wasn't into it like Eoin was. But hell, it was still worth it being there.

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Friday, March 22, 2002

I got home early this afternoon. I am not well. I'm going back to bed now.

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Wednesday, March 20, 2002

It's my last day in Toronto. My flight to London is at 9:40pm tonight. If I'm really lucky at Heathrow, I might get back to Dublin sometime just after noon, so I can grab some lunch before going to bed for 18 hours.

I had an excellent time here. As expected, it took me a bit to get adjusted to being in a new place, the nuances and such, but after yesterday there's so much that I'd still like to see that time and money are not permitting.

Yes, yesterday; I got the streetcar from Bathurst Stn. down to Bathurst and King, walked down Bathurst to Front St. and made my way to Blue Jays Way to take a photo of Second City, and immersed myself in the financial district (them buildings is TALL!). Then I headed over to BCE Place to check out the Hockey Hall of Fame, but it was full of kids so I skipped it and went to the gift shop instead. After that I continued down Front St. to the Flatiron, stopped for an iced coffee at the Second Cup Coffee Co. at the corner there. Next, walked up the other side of the Flatiron on Wellington, turned up Yonge St and made a left onto Queen, walked all the way back to Bathurst (passed Ethan on the way) then turned around and walked back to Yonge on the other side of the street.

Turned left then and walked up past the Eaton Center, crossed over to the HMV at 333 Yonge (which, by the way, while bigger than HMV Grafton Street and better organised category-wise, doesn't have nearly as diverse a product range - they don't even sell t-shirts for chrissakes!). I got a video that John was looking for, and a few things for meself. Continued up Yonge, eventually got to that t-shirt shop we were in on Saturday but they were out of those Thundercats shirts (bummer) so I got something else. Time ticking away, and I'm sweating like there's no tomorrow. Up Yonge to Bloor, and then left along Bloor back to Bathurst, stopping somewhere along the way for some blue Gatorade. Believe me, I needed it. Made it to Bathurst Stn. with my feet still intact, then caught the bus back here to drop off my stuff and get changed.

Then I headed back downtown a few minutes later to meet up with Ethan and go to the CN Tower, which was expensive but pretty cool all the same. Standing on the glass floor was weird, it didn't feel like so high up until I moved slightly and the perspective affected my brain. Got some good photos up there too. It wasn't the clearest of days but you could still see at least ten miles away. After that we met up with Chris in a Nova Scotia-style pub and we caught the subway to get to the Mexican place for dinner, the tickets to the Maple Leafs game having fallen through. We ate at Plaza Garibaldi's on Danforth in Greektown. I shared fajitas with Ryan. Damn good food. After that I was getting a leeetle tipsy, so when we got to Allen's down the street I had to have a glass of water. I just about managed a Guinness after that (it was a good one, but too good, very heavy), and then we went home in Charlie's car.

And now it's Wednesday morning. I'm gonna go pack up some of my stuff now and head down to the supermarket in St. Clair for some strange North American foodstuffs.

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Tuesday, March 19, 2002

It's just gone 10am here. I'm gonna shower, grab a bite to eat and head downtown for the afternoon. I've got some shopping to do, and maybe a few photos to take. Plus, I've got a hankerin' for another iced coffee, and maybe a burger or something at Harvey's. I'm meeting Ethan after work and we're gonna head to the CN Tower. We're working on the premiss that most of the WrestleMania transients have left by now. I'm also gonna check out the Hockey Hall of Fame today if the queue isn't too long.

Speaking of hockey, Ethan scored two tickets to the Maple Leafs/Islanders game tonight, so that's gonna be pretty damn sweet. My first hockey game, let alone my first NHL game.

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There's a photo of me taken on the Toronto subway on the front page of Tza-Tzac.com. I had had a few drinks by then - it was St.Paddy's Day after all - so please forgive my appearance. Also, while it may look like my gums are bleeding, trust me, they aren't. I may be Irish, but I'm not that Irish.

And hey, while you're there, check out Ethan's rant on the day in question. He was really wasted, but he's still got a basically accurate recollection of events.

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Monday, March 18, 2002

Oh, and while I'm here:

Yes, I did actually make it downtown without any hassle on Friday evening. Met up with Ethan and met some of his friends and work buddies at a bar across the street from the toronto.com office where they work. Then we hit the movies - Famous Players Silver City - for Resident Evil, which was a bit crappy but Milla Jovovich actually looked alright in it, not so waif-like, so it wasn't all bad. I was kinda beat for the rest of the evening.

We spent most of Saturday touring around downtown, checking everything out. I had my first iced coffee (a vanilla icepresso at the Second Cup Coffee Co.). I was never really a coffee person mainly because I don't like hot drinks at all, but I think I'm addicted. I gotta find somewhere in Dublin that does them. We checked out a couple of music stores, got a couple of things at the big HMV on Yonge St. (I gotta go back there, take my time looking around, see if I can find me an nWo shirt), and passed through a not-bad t-shirt shop on Yonge that had a sweet Thundercats logo shirt. Sure, everyone might wear them here, but I haven't seen many back home, and besides, it isn't a post-modernist ironic statement for me - I actually watched Thundercats religiously when I was a young 'un. Feel the magic, hear the roar, Thundercats are loose! I can even mime the wailing guitar solo.

There were some big ass bookstores we passed as well, I've gotta browse around those a bit. We ate at Harvey's, which apparently is a Canadian institution. Damn good food, belies its nature as a fast food joint. I want to eat there again.

That's my plan for tomorrow - retrace my steps, do some shopping and browsing, maybe a lil' eating, take some more photos, and if I can, check out the Hockey Hall of Fame (the queue was too long on Saturday, but not as long as the one for the CN Tower, where I may be going later today). Wednesday I think I may check out a movie - most likely Showtime - at the Famous Players Paramount (which is ginormous, by the way), and hit a grocery store for some exciting Canadian treats. I've already had cherry Pepsi and cookie dough (mmmm cookie dough), I need some candy bars, and beef jerky for Dave.

I'm gonna go take a shower. It might make me feel better. I feel like shit right now.

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I am very hung over right now, but I gotta post some stuff before I forget it.

I went with Ryan to the ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead show on Saturday night, which was pretty awesome. They played with a local band called Raising The Fawn, who were alright, nothing special, and Explosions In The Sky, who were damn cool in an early-Mogwai sorta way, although their set dragged on a bit.

The Trail of Dead came on just after midnight and rocked the house silly. Jason went a litte insane in a Guy-Picciotto-having-a-panic-attack kinda way. He threw a bottle at us at the end of the show. Thankfully it wasn't broken, although it was when it hit the floor.

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Some observations on last night's WrestleMania:

1) Even though it took nearly an hour to get into the fucking thing (we missed Sunday Night Heat as a result, got to our seats just before the pay-per-view started), the SkyDome is very impressive. And very, very big. Sixty-eight thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven people big.
2) Our seats were on the upper tier (section 516) but - as I presumed - we could still basically see everything, except for when there was a big pyro display and the dome filled with smoke. The big video screen behind the banner was a help though.
3) While it was absolutely amazing to be there, I felt the card and the booking left a lot to be desired. I mean, most of the matches felt like filler, all bar one were singles contests (and short ones, I must add) and the one that wasn't - the four corners tag team match - was a directionless waste of time. It seems management don't want anybody other than Billy & Chuck to be the tag team champions, but they know they're shit so they hoped adding the Dudleys and the Hardys to the mix would help. It didn't.
4) The one angle that really worked, the hardcore championship thing, was actually pretty funny and well done but they ruined it by letting that fool Maven win the title back. Why was he even there?
5) Hulk Hogan vs The Rock: I was in pretty-much a Hulk Hogan supporters' club section of the dome, so everytime he went for his trademark moves everyone marked out. Really good atmosphere. Horrible ending though. Why did Hogan turn face? I mean I can understand why they did it, but it doesn't flow with the storyline. I mean, a month ago Hogan ran a truck into the side of the Rock's car, and now they're best buddies? In the old days it took at least six months before stuff like that happened.
6) I really wanted a t-shirt, but circumstances worked against me. I probably would've been ripped off anyway. A bottle of Coke was $3.25.

All in all, it was great to be there, something to tell the grandkids about. I'll watch the video when I get home. Wrestling just seems better when it's on TV.

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Friday, March 15, 2002

YES! Lock up your children, 'cause Oxbow are playing in Dublin on the 15th of May!

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Hey, my posts are still in GMT! I forgot it was so late back home. I had a weird morning today, woke up really early (body clock probably still on home time, although I did fall asleep some time before 11pm last night), however I think I'm used to the whole five-hours-behind thing now. But I'm gonna be fucked when I get home! Thank god the Godspeed gig isn't until the day after.

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I gotta head downtown in about 90 minutes to meet Ethan. This is where the whole 'fish out of water' takes over; unfamiliarity breeds anxiety in me. Our transport system back home isn't exactly efficient, but it's almost impossible to make any mistakes - you get on a bus at the front: left-hand side if you're paying cash (the driver gives you a ticket), right-hand side if you have a prepaid ticket; you get a train at the station: you gotta buy a ticket at the office and then put it through the turnstile to get to the platform; you can't transfer from one bus or one train to the other (unless you get on the wrong bus or something - that happened to me once, got on one bus at college thinking the one I wanted was gone, but then it showed up, and the driver was nice enough to print off a tansfer receipt without me even asking since I didn't know they could do that - but it's technically not the done thing). However, here they have a quite efficient system, but I haven't the faintest idea what I'll be doing. I don't think drivers print off tickets for your journey, do they? You just drop your money in the thing and sit down, right? And this transfer business: what does the driver give you? What do you do with it when you do transfer to another bus or streetcar? I'm just so used to knowing how everything works, I don't like to ask for help, it would draw attention to myself as the tourist or the outsider, even though I think nothing of it when visitors or newcomers to Dublin have to do the same thing. I feel like an idiot.

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Friday Five number nine (coming to you this week from Toronto):

1. What's your favorite animal?

Dogs. Not counting the ape family, they are the most anthropomorphic of animals.

2. What pets have you had in your lifetime?

Without going into specifics, since I was born we have had four dogs, five rabbits and a goldfish. I'm not counting the four feral cats who basically live in our back garden, even though we feel them.

3. Is there any specific pet that you've wanted but never had? Why?

Nope. I always wondered what it would be like to keep a lizard or similar reptile, but I've never specifically wanted one.

4. Are you allergic to any animals?

Nope. As far as I know I'm not allergic to anything (except possibly the sun).

5. Do you have any 'pet' pet peeves (your pets or others')?

Oh yes. To name just one, Major has a horrible habit of scraping the floor with his front claws in an obsessive compulsive manner. It would drive a lesser man to insanity.

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Well, here I am in Canada!

The guys are at work so I've got the place to myself for a few hours. Found a cool, really early Corrosion Of Conformity album (back when they were punk) in Ethan's CD collection which I am listening to at this present moment. And I'm feeling kinda hungry now so I think I'll go and rustle me up some breakfast in a minute.

Yesterday was just a strange day. I thought it would be a lot longer than it was. The flight from London wasn't as mind-numbing as I expected, I studied a bit and read a bit and saw a cool Jack Lemmon film called The Apartment. Customs was a bit annoying though - the first part was alright, but the second guy (after baggage collection) got really defensive and loud when he asked me where I was from and I said 'Ireland'. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or maybe he's always a prick (and a prejudicial prick at that), but screw it, I know better than to mess with people in positions of authority.

Anywho, I got out eventually, met Ethan at arrivals and drove out here, got a movie - Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back - and a pizza when Ryan got home, and basically took it easy. I have still yet to experience the really touristy sites (CN Tower et al) but that's all to come over the next few days.

One annoying thing though: I took care to get enough credit for my phone and confirm that I'm registered for international roaming, but wouldn't you know it, the network is shite here so I can't get a connection. Ergo, I can't text home or receive any messages. Not good, not good at all.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Well, this is it, my final post before I head off to Canadia, and most likely my final post till I return next week.

Oooh I'm so excited! North America! The final frontier!

I'm almost completely packed now. Just have to set the alarm for the morning, program the video for the week (I'm taping WrestleMania - as I always do - so I can relive the experience).

I got a guidebook for Toronto today, just something small to point out the best places to go. It's got a couple of walking tours mapped out, and a list of good bookshops and music stores and museums and stuff. And I didn't know that Toronto had an underground city like in Montreal. Pretty damn cool. Hopefully it won't be too cold, or snowing. But then again, their snow is nicer than our snow.

I don't know what else to say now. I'm back next Thursday afternoon. I'll be switching servers when I get back but I have redirect files ready so the transition will be smooth. Only past links to the archives will be messed up. I should have a whole load of photos to post when I return.

Right, I guess that's it. In the immortal words of Ahnold, I'll be back!

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Tuesday, March 12, 2002

It suddenly dawned on me today why there's a menagerie of film-related vehicles in the tennis club car park down the road from my house: they're filming Chasing the Dragon, the new film based on the Veronica Guerin murder with Cate Blanchett. Another film was made based on the same events (although using different names) a couple of years ago with Joan Allen. People didn't go to see it. I remember watching the end of it whilst skiving off during an ushering shift at the UCI.

I didn't do much today. I woke up late, but then again I didn't get home till after 2am last night. Monday Night Beers at Dave's house. It was good, we had fun brainstorming with Dave about his A/V project. I think I contributed a good idea or two.

Wow, only one day left here before my week away on the other side of the Atlantic. And tomorrow's gonna be a busy one. I've already started packing. Is it too late to mention now that after tomorrow I won't be posting again till the 21st? That's Thursday week, by the way. I'll be getting home sometime that afternoon.

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Monday, March 11, 2002

It's a beautiful day today.

I just got back from town a while ago, after going out to campus to drop my information policy essay into DepLIS. I got it finished last night about 2am, following an extraordinary number of drafts and careful spellchecking and proofreading. I am a perfectionist after all. Plus, I just had no motivation to get it done earlier, which is a shame since I was (and am) interested in the topic.

I'm skipping the short film festival at the Sugar Club. Not only is it too warm a day to be couped up in a dark nightclub wathcing bad films (I've seen one, and heard about another... maybe if it was raining I could put up with it), but I've got this book on the Kabbalah that I've been hoping to read since last week.

I hope the weather is the same tomorrow morning. I'm planning to get a bus out to Howth and walk home over the hill. Just for the hell of it.

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Sunday, March 10, 2002

I hate to rain on these guys' parade - since I do abide by the theory that 90% of the world's population are idiots - but if we were to educate more people, then a lot less of them would be stupid, which in turn will lead to a reduction in the population explosion, without the need for genocide.

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Saturday, March 09, 2002

This seems absurd to me. I mean, I understand the sentiment and of course I would like to see a resolution to all of this (don't we all?), but it ain't gonna happen, regardless of the result.

But beside the point, why anyone would want to give up the benefits of being British to become one of us is beyond me. Look at our cost of living for chrissakes!!! Sterling is 65 pence to a Euro!!! And you know. Northern Ireland has the fastest ambulance responce times in the world. Who would want to give that up?

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Today's edition of Tom the Dancing Bug just arrived in my inbox, and - of course - it's a good one. Granted, Tom is often quite acidic and extremely biased, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

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Yesterday morning it was warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.

Right now, it's snowing.

How?

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Friday, March 08, 2002

Friday Five number eight (buuurp!), number eight (buuurp!), number eight (buuurp!):

1. What makes you homesick?

Just being away. It takes me a little while to adjust to a new place, even if I'm just there for a few days. But I get used to it. I've never been really homesick. Yet.

2. Where is "home" for you? Is it where you are living now, or somewhere else (ie: Mom & Dad's house, particular state/city)?

Home is right here, in Dublin. (That's in Ireland, by the way.)

3. What makes it home for you? People? Things?

I dunno. I guess because I grew up here, and I haven't lived anywhere else. I could make a list longer than Santa's of things I dislike about living here, but I still feel at home here. Dublin fits me like a glove.

4. Where is the furthest you've been from home, miles-wise?

500 miles - the distance between here and Paris, or here and Brussels. That's as far as I've been yet. Next Thursday, however, the new record will be 3,269 miles, 'cause I'm going to Toronto for six days. I'm really getting excited about that now.

5. What are your plans for this weekend?

I have an essay to finish, and I have to go out to campus tomorrow to do some photocopying. And I have to sort out what notes I'm bringing with me to Canada. That's about it really.

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Thursday, March 07, 2002

The results of the abortion referendum were announced this afternoon: 50.42% voted 'no', so the constitution will not be amended. I'm glad. I voted (if I can, I always do) and I did not vote 'yes'.

But that is not to say that I don't believe there should be some form of legislation in place. I made my decision in this referendum solely on the basis of the proposed amendment. I didn't have time for the arguments from neither the right nor the left. Nobody had anything substantial to say. Nobody said what they would do instead. It just isn't as simple and clear-cut as 'yes' or 'no'.

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Ezra's coming over to this side of the world for a couple of weeks, so he's invited 49 people to blogsit for him. I am one of the 49, so please check out the ramblings and see what happens. It could be very interesting, from a sociological point of view.

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Wednesday, March 06, 2002

Seven years go by and the Catholic Church finally catches on to the whole intramanet hoo-ha. 'Tis a crying shame I know too much to listen to what they say any more.

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Ezra's looking for blogsitters.

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Tuesday, March 05, 2002

I didn't post anything yesterday. After spending three hours on public transport, three hours taking lecture notes, reading three newspapers, reading notes for three different courses, reading over 100 pages of a novel and writing a quarter of my info policy essay, I just didn't have the energy.

As a matter of fact, I don't have the energy now.

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Sunday, March 03, 2002

If you happen to be into pro wrestling, especially the indie scene (like me), Ultimate Pro Wrestling has an excellent selection of archived shows.

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These shenanigans are just more proof that if you want good television, you have to go to Britain to get it.

American television is a solely commerical enterprise; it has to pander to the lowest common denominator in this day and age. It was only a matter of time that things like this started happening on this scale. Not that this hasn't happened on British TV in any form, but would one ever see programming such as last night's launch of BBC Four (broadcast simultaneously on BBC 2) on American network television? I think not.

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Oh, before I go for the day, I have committed a shameless act of rip-offery by adding a book list to my site so I can keep a log on everything I've read (and will read) this year.

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My net connection is very slow today...

The site should look a bit better in Netscape now that I've made some style changes in the code (it still looks better in IE and Opera, though).

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I think I've figured out why I've been feeling so shitty the last few days:

I've got exam anxiety.

Two months to go and I've already got exam anxiety. Maybe it's a good thing - it'll force me to keep to a study regime - but, you know, I'd rather not feel so irrationally upset, mentally and physically. Not yet, anyway. I mean, it stopped me from going to the Icarus Line gig last night (I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I went - if I could have gone - not even if I wasn't there alone).

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Saturday, March 02, 2002

If you're a fan of The Simpsons, does anything about this episode strike you as familiar? ...... Just think a few series back, and substitute alcohol for sugar.

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It looks like this site will be going on hiatus from the 1st of April if I can't find a workable solution in time. If it was later in the year it wouldn't be such a problem for me but I've got too much on at the moment to worry about finding a suitable host and domain name register. If I do have to go, I should be back up and running (most likely under a new name) in late May or June. But I will be back. I've got the blogging bug, I can't just stop completely.

Update: maybe I was a just a leeeeetle premature with the whole 'hiatus' thing. I still want to get a new host and domain name - I've set my sights on doing that by the summer if it's possible in my situation - but for the meantime I will soon relocate the site to Tripod. Not the greatest solution in the world I know (I hate pop-up ads as much as the next person) but at least I can keep blogging. I've already set up macdaraconroy.tripod.com as the address. Don't bother visiting, there's nothing there just yet.

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This is quite upsetting.

I'm not sure what to do now. I was just getting into the swing of things. Not having a credit card just complicates matters. Cornerhost seems like a good option, since they're cheap and they're good, but do they take international cheques? And I guess I'll have to get a domain name too, but where? And how do I pay for it?

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Friday, March 01, 2002

Tools keeps getting better and better.

One of the latest additions is a link to Gnod, which I'm playing around with now.

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Friday Five number seven:

1. What's your favorite vacation spot?

Jeez, what the hell is this? I'm not the Million Dollar Man! What do you want to hear? That I summer in the Hamptons and winter in Aspen? 'Cause if you do you can go take a hike, bucko.

And besides, who wants to go away to the same location all the time? Well, I guess if you like those package holiday type things you might, but they don't count as holidays in my book.

To answer the question, even though it doesn't really apply to me and it smacks of elitism, I have been to Paris twice but still didn't see everything I wanted to see, so I would love to go back.

2. Where do you consider to be the biggest hell-hole on earth?

San Antonio, on Ibiza, seems like it to me. I've never been there, but I never wanna go. I feel sorry for the people who live there, having to put up with all those drunken fools.

3. What would be your dream vacation?

A few days in New York, a few more in Chicago, then all the way along the Pacific coast from LA to Vancouver. I'm hoping to do Vancouver to San Francisco within the next twelve months. I would rather not travel alone though.

4. If you could go on a road-trip with anyone, who would it be and why?

Any of my friends really, for different reasons. Each of the trips would be different, and they'd all have the potental for excellence, so I couldn't pick just one. Now, if we could all drive, that would be even sweeter.

5. What are your plans for this weekend?

Probably going to the Icarus Line gig tomorrow night, even though I'll feel like a tool being on my own and lost in a crowd of pretentiousness. I've also got some reading to do and essay planning and whatnot. I dunno, whatever happens happens I guess.

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random linkage:

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