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I don't really know if anyone even cares
what I think or what I have to say, but...from
time to time, I will post thoughts here in as
coherent a manner as possible. Check back every
now and then. I'll try to remember to update the
home page when a new blog is posted. If you'd
like to respond, feel free to email me: lurker
(at) epicprog.net.
Have you taken a walk through the music section
in your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart or other large
chain store lately? How about your local CD
store? (That is, if there are any still open in
your area.) If you have, and particularly if you
were looking for a specific album, you may have
noticed a disturbing trend. The amount of space
devoted to CDs is decreasing at an alarming
rate. Barnes and Noble is pushing music aside
for more and more DVD space. My local Best Buy
has cut its CD area by about 60% over the last
year and a half, and Wal-Mart’s area has shrunk
as well. Our local Borders has all but stopped
stocking CDs, except for one or two bargain
bins.
What CDs still reside in these stores have
largely been pared down to the bare minimum.
Stores stock only a couple of CDs under any
given artist anymore, and these are usually
compilations. You know them by many names:
“greatest hits,” “classics,” “best of,”
“anthology”...and so on. What strikes me as sad
is that there are so many people out there who
swear by these compilations. For them,
everything they need by an artist can be found
in a hits package. They seem to operate under
the false assumption that if a song wasn’t a
hit, it must not be any good.
This thought process is flawed. Just because
mainstream radio forced certain songs on you
through repeated plays, it doesn’t mean that
you’ve heard the best cuts, or the ones that
will end up touching you in the most profound
way. This homogenous “Stepford radio,”
perpetuated by the likes of Clear Channel
Communications, ensures that you’ve only heard
what the record companies think are the
best cuts. For example, my world would be much
the poorer if I had only ever heard “We Will
Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” off of
Queen’s News of the World album. A hits
compilation from the band typically does not
include such gems as “It’s Late,” “All Dead, All
Dead,” or “Spread Your Wings,” any one of which
I’d rather hear than the aforementioned
ubiquitous mega hits. The music industry isn’t a
better arbiter than the listener of which songs
are good, but some people treat it as if it was.
Compilations allow the stores to cater to the
least common denominator – the casual music fan
that doesn’t care enough to spend time with the
album to find out what songs they like. They
allow the stores to save shelf space by stocking
mostly hits packages and not individual albums.
This is maddening to a shopper like me, who may
be looking to fill some holes in my collection.
How many times have I looked to upgrade my
cassette version of Def Leppard’s High N Dry
album by finding a good deal on the CD, only to
discover nothing but four copies of the
Vault: Greatest Hits compilation under the
Def Leppard section? Many. Many much times. If
memory serves, only “Bringing on the Heartbreak”
from High N Dry appears on Vault.
That isn’t to say that a compilation can’t be
handy. For a band like Quarterflash or Scandal,
which didn’t have many releases, a good
compilation can pretty much cover a recording
career. Also, a compilation that includes a few
previously unreleased tracks, or maybe some live
bonus cuts, can be worth picking up. But these
are the exceptions. And honestly, the Steve
Miller Band has probably said everything it has
to say in the handful of songs that have been
played to death on FM radio for the last 30+
years.
While a compilation may suffice for the casual
fan, or those mindless folks who truly believe
that a song can’t be any good if it wasn’t a
hit, one size does not fit all in this case. For
me, and I believe many other music lovers, the
true joy of discovery lies among the deeper
album cuts of a band’s catalog. Along with many
other excellent songs, you won’t find “Dogs” or
“Mother” on Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.
That’s just one example of many I could mention.
The bottom line for me is that I’m an album guy,
and the world no longer caters to album guys.
The total experience of albums has gone away,
seemingly for good. But nothing in today’s
digital age can compare with the experience of
dropping the stylus onto a new album, opening
the gatefold sleeve, following along with the
lyrics sheet and going on a journey the way the
artist intended it.
This year began with Kayleigh coming home from
NICU almost two weeks after she was born. It was
very special bringing the little bundle of joy
home for the first time. It’s amazing how you
feel every single bump in the road that first
time you take your newborn baby out for a drive!
She initially needed medication to help her
digestion but quickly was able to do without it.
We found her a good in-home babysitter and Jamie
was on the mend and back at work before she knew
what hit her.
Jordan’s soccer team went to the State Cup
tournament in Naples in the spring, and despite
dominating the opposition on the field, could
only come away with a pair of ties and a narrow
defeat. The strikers simply couldn’t find the
net, but Jordan was outstanding in goal. The
team had an up-and-down spring, and disaster
struck when Jordan dislocated her elbow during
warm-ups. She wore an immobilizing brace for a
few months. In true Jordan fashion, she quickly
regained her strength and range of motion and
she is back in goal, although she must wear a
special brace when she plays due to the
reoccurrence rate with this type of injury.
Shortly thereafter, Kayleigh got her own
orthotic device – a helmet designed to round out
a flat spot that had developed on her head –
which she wore for three months.
In June we visited the beautiful city of
Savannah, GA. We stayed in the historic
district, took in the sights and ate at some
fantastic restaurants. Kayleigh was the hit of
River Street, as she was strapped to the front
of her daddy during a leisurely jaunt down the
tourist-y shopping district. We also hit some
off-the-beaten-path places as well. We had a
great time and would recommend it to anyone.
Jamie had long wanted to visit Savannah, so I
was very happy I could take her. I’m also happy
we could trade in her Corolla and get her a new
Camry this year.
Jordan started high school, where she spent her
first year in marching band, and made first
chair clarinet in concert band. She has been
asked to move up to symphonic band and has
several tough challenges ahead at a solo &
ensemble competition. She was placed on the
junior varsity soccer team, where she was asked
to play striker and she responded by scoring
four goals in her very first game! She was
quickly promoted to varsity, and has scored a
couple of goals and plays some goalkeeper. Only
a freshman, she is one of the best players on
the squad and we’re very proud of her – almost
as proud as we are of her continuing straight
A’s on her report cards. After Christmas, her
club team will compete in South Florida in a
showcase tournament, where college scouts will
be watching and starting files on players her
age. Teams will compete from all over the U.S.
and even Canada. Jordan also recently got her
learner’s permit, which means she is already
more qualified to drive a car than 85% of the
people in Orlando.
Jamie got to meet the Food Network’s Paula Deen
at the annual Epcot Food & Wine event that she
works every year. I went to Pittsburgh in August
to the Three Rivers ProgFest to see 10 great
bands over two days, including rare U.S.
appearances by two of my favorite English bands
(IQ and It Bites). It was fun hanging out with
friends and seeing the sights of the Steel City.
I continue to do my progressive rock radio show
on the internet every Friday night at
www.progrock.com and started a website for my
show at www.epicprog.net this year.
We are excited about celebrating Kayleigh’s
first birthday this Saturday (Dec. 19) and
Christmas, which she was still in the hospital
for last year. It’s been a great year
overall…and in some respects a long one.
I remember when Christmas was a December thing.
People used to decorate their houses with gaudy
light displays in December, not November. You
trimmed the Christmas tree in December, possibly
even on Christmas Eve...not the day after
Thanksgiving. Christmas specials used to begin
airing two to three weeks before Christmas. The
time-honored annual battle between Snow Miser
and Heat Miser in "The Year Without a Santa
Claus" was always in December!
Not anymore. Now you see lights up on houses
prior to Thanksgiving. People put up their trees
on Thanksgiving weekend. Christmas specials
start hitting TV the week after Halloween! And
of course there's the dreaded "Black Friday" for
those masochists who simply MUST get to the
stores by 4 a.m. to get that sweet $10 deal on a
toaster. This occurs after every store has
already had its Christmas displays up since Nov.
1. This phenomenon of Christmas preparation
getting earlier and earlier each year is known
as "Christmas creep" and I want no part of it.
Christmas time is special. Part of what makes it
special is the time of year it occurs. The cold
of winter has established a foothold (which is
the only reason why people would make a big deal
out of chestnuts roasting on an open fire) and
Christmas takes your mind off of the fact that
the weather is going to suck for a good long
time. When I was a kid, we used to put up
our tree a week before Christmas and take it
down the weekend after New Year's. As I got
older, it seemed like the tree went up earlier
and earlier each year.
This year, it was suggested to me that we'd put
our tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving.
Um...how about...no. I simply refuse to start
all the hoopla in November. I mean, isn't that
selling Thanksgiving short? Am I the only person
who thinks it is just wrong to have Christmas
ornaments and stockings being sold alongside the
Halloween candy in October? And shopping at 4
a.m. the day after Thanksgiving? Forget it! I am
horrified by the idea of being anywhere but in
bed at 4 a.m.
If this Christmas creep trend continues, it
won't be long before Santa and the Easter Bunny
have to share shelf space at the local
Walgreens.
As always, feel free to respond to my blog
posts by
emailing me.
As an American fan of the game 95% of the world
knows as “football” and we know as “soccer,” I
find myself with very few people with whom I can
discuss the beautiful game on a day-to-day
basis. I can usually find someone online to
share a few notes with, but dialogue is usually
not an option for me. It’s too bad, really,
because I enjoy the game with a passion. I have
been known to watch games from leagues in 11 or
12 different countries over the course of a
weekend. Yes, I know it’s a sickness.
But no league play can compare with the
excitement and drama of international matches.
So World Cup fever has had me in its grip since
the moment that the last European Cup ended. Of
course, I have been intently charting the
progress of the U.S. national team, with its
frustratingly tight matches against opponents
that a world class team should be dusting by
halftime. This, of course, begs the question of
whether the U.S. team is truly world class. I
believe this team, despite its obvious
weaknesses, is capable. The Gold Cup games
showed that when playing its best, the U.S. can
steal games from even the world’s elite. A win
over Spain and a two-goal halftime lead against
Brazil (that, unfortunately, eventually bled
away) displayed what kind of guts the American
squad can show. It would be much tougher to do
over the course of a longer tournament such as
the World Cup, but if the U.S. gets through the
group stage, they should be a team that no one
wants to play. I stress the word ‘should.’ They
are also quite capable of stinking up the pitch
on any given night.
The great thing about World Cup football is that
you can appreciate the play of teams outside
your own country, whether it’s the dogged
determination of the Italians, the passion of
the English, the beautiful ball movement of the
Spanish or Brazilians or the technical precision
of the Germans, there is much to enjoy. There
are underdogs to support, like the Aussies or
some of the African nations. Every game is
meaningful and two entire nations hang on every
match (or more, if a specific result is needed
by other countries in order to stay alive). For
some of these nations, businesses and schools
will close when their team is playing (wouldn’t
it be great if that happened here in the U
.S.?). Some of these players will return home,
hailed as heroes. Some may have to dodge
assassins’ bullets. Such is the passion the
World Cup brings out every four years.
At the time I write this, there are 19 teams (by
my count) already booked for South Africa in
2010, with 13 more to punch their tickets. Some
very noteworthy countries will not be there.
Already teams from Turkey (which had a great run
in the last Euro Cup), Poland, Belgium, Austria,
Norway and Scotland are on the outside looking
in. There is a possibility that teams from
Russia, France, Argentina, Sweden, the Czech
Republic, Portugal, or Ireland could miss the
World Cup. I look forward to the last round of
group play to see who gets in and will watch
with intense interest as the final knock-out
stages take place. There will be heartbreak for
some and joy for others. And that will start all
over again when the World Cup group play begins
in South Africa in 2010. I’ll be watching. Will
you?
It’s out of control and it
must be stopped. Football broadcasts have
incorporated music for many years now. That’s
not a bad thing. A highlights package set to the
right song is pretty entertaining. But a trend
that has developed over the last few years has
me to the point where I am actually considering
giving up watching football on television - the
music video approach to football telecasts.
I guess we can blame ABC for starting this whole
thing with their Hank Williams Jr. “Are You
Ready for some Football?” intro on Monday
Night Football. Many people liked this (I
was not one of them), and the intro started to
grow and grow in popularity. The “Are you ready
for some football?” intros grew more elaborate
and spawned commercials, t-shirts, etc. It
started to overshadow the fact that there was an
actual NFL game to be played (and watched on
television).
When Monday Night Football moved over to
ESPN and NBC picked up a Sunday night telecast,
the floodgates started to open. NBC needed to
have their own version of “Are You Ready for
Some Football?” and for some wacky reason they
decided to resurrect a mediocre 80s song by Joan
Jett and the Blackhearts (“I Hate Myself for
Loving You”). Since these lyrics had nothing to
do with football, the lyrics got rewritten to
incorporate aspects of the game of each week (MNF
had been doing this with Hank Williams Jr. for
several years). I believe Pink was the original
artist that NBC’s pompously-titled Football
Night in America (stealing from the sacred
Hockey Night in Canada) first. This
year’s first broadcast had Faith Hill in the
Pink role, singing a song about the Chicago
Bears visiting the Green Bay Packers…still using
the damned Joan Jett song as the melody.
This year, ESPN has expanded its music
video-as-football package to include college
games. I’m a huge fan of college football and
it’s not unusual for me to watch up to five
games on any given weekend (Thursday through
Saturday) on ESPN, which covers a lot of games.
ESPN has decided to use country star Kenny
Chesney to open the college football broadcasts
this year with a song called “This is Our
Moment.” Not being a fan of country music, this
makes me cringe. They mix concert shots of
Chesney with highlights of the teams that are
playing in that game. On commercial breaks, they
intersperse the concert shots with highlights
from that actual game broadcast. Watching as
much college football as I do, you can only
imagine the teeth grinding irritation I feel by
the middle of Saturday afternoon, having heard
the chorus of that song about 937 times (I
exaggerate – a little – but you get the idea).
The good folks at ESPN seemed to have figured
out that maybe the Chesney thing would get a
little old for some people, so they decided to
throw a bone to the “rockers.” Once or twice
during each half, the broadcast will return from
commercial to a highlights package featuring
shots of the Dave Matthews Band performing a
song called “Why I Am.” I’m not sure what “Why I
Am” has to do with football, but, not being a
fan of the Dave Matthews Band, this does not
ease my pain, with the exception that it isn’t
Kenny Chesney.
I guess I just don’t understand why a perfectly
good football telecast has to be a music video
these days, especially since music videos rarely
even grace the channels that were built for them
anymore – Mtv and VH1, to name a couple. As far
as I know, there was no sudden plummet in
football ratings in the last few years. Do TV
executives really think that these music videos
will suddenly turn the people out there who
could care less about sports into rabid football
fans and repeat viewers? Seriously, I must know.
And the randomness of NBC picking that Joan Jett
song as the basis for their video really
befuddles me.
I can understand (kind of) why the Super Bowl
has become a concert stage. Many people watching
are more interested in the spectacle (and the
commercials) than the game itself, and it is
good to entertain those people. Unfortunately,
this has spread like the H1N1 virus to other
sporting events, like the NBA and NHL All-Star
games and the Daytona 500, just to name a few.
Sports are entertainment in and of themselves,
so I just don’t get why the powers that be feel
the need to augment their telecasts with other
forms of entertainment. It just feels phony and
contrived. Personally, as a sports fan, I’m fine
with "just" the sports entertainment. If I want
to hear some tunes, I have CDs, DVDs and mp3s,
and I can always buy a concert ticket. But hey,
that’s just me.
For now, I will grit my teeth, keep my finger on
the mute button and try to remain patient while
waiting on the actual football coverage to begin
/ resume. But I can see a day in the near future
when watching football on television will no
longer be an option for me, and I will be forced
to vote with my remote. Too bad we’re not a
Neilson household.
Lately I've been thinking not
only about prog music but different genres of
music - some of which are fairly new to me and
some of which I have enjoyed during different
periods of my life. I'm talking about heavy
metal, punk, new wave, synth pop, etc. New wave
is something I dabbled in during the 80s. I
found it more to my liking than punk, but it
certainly owes some of its success to punk.
Anyway, I thought I'd list a few favorite new
wave songs and that means a top five list. Here
goes...my five favorite new wave songs (as
always, subject to change without notice):
5. The Pretenders - Stop
Your Sobbing
Some people don't
consider The Pretenders to be new wave, because
they don't blend extra elements into their
punk-based music, but I think they were a bit
late to the party to be considered punk, and
probably a bit too smooth at times. Anyway, I
classify them as such, and so here is a song
that I really like by The Pretenders that hits
the sweet spot for me. Written by Ray Davies of
The Kinks, Chrissie Hynde really puts her own
stamp on this song. Lots of magic involved in
this one, when you consider Davies, producer
Nick Lowe, as well as The Pretenders themselves.
4. Adam & the Ants - Stand
and Deliver
Some would call
this post-punk, but I honestly don't see a
difference between "post-punk" and "new wave" as
far as labels are concerned, so I'll stick with
my preferred nomenclature here. :) This
stands as perhaps my favorite song by Adam & the
Ants / Adam Ant. It's just such a manic-sounding
song, with a lot going on. Had a pretty good
video, too. Like much of the stuff I listened to
during that time period, this was a discovery
via Mtv. There was a lot of awful music set to
interesting videos on the network at the time,
but also some very good songs. Some of those
good songs were set to cheesy, but fun, videos.
This is one of those songs. You can probably
find the video on YouTube. I rather enjoyed the
song, even without the visuals.
3. Devo - Peek-A-Boo
There were a lot of
Devo songs that could have made this list. I
listened to a lot of Devo during my first couple
years of high school. There was a lot of play
for Freedom of Choice and Oh No! It's
Devo! on the turntable of my Sears stereo.
This song was just so energetic and upbeat,
while simultaneously having such an
evil-sounding vocal line and the maniacal laugh
as a chorus. It was so weird and fun that it
just ended up being among my very favorite Devo
songs.
2. Elvis Costello -
Oliver's Army
I always liked EC
back in the days before he was doing Burt
Bacharach music. He was a little pit punk, a
little bit pop, very nerdy and his warbling
voice drove most of my friends crazy. I wasn't
entirely sure what the song was about, but I
knew it was some sort of protest. I stumbled
across the video for this song on Mtv in the
mid-80s and just fell in love with the song, and
also with the idea that someone who looked like
Elvis Costello could actually become a pop star.
Here's to you, Elvis, for giving ugly kids
everywhere a glimmer of hope that they too could
rise to fame and fortune.
1. Blondie - Atomic
I can't begin to describe how much I love this
song. It's kind of different, with a bit of a
surf music vibe to it, while at the same time
sounding like something off an old Clint
Eastwood western. Debbie's vocal is haunting,
and the band just sounds great when playing it.
I remember spinning the vinyl LP Eat to
the Beat many times as a kid. I'm not
surprised this song reached #1 in the U.K. (only
#39 here in the U.S.).
How about some honorable mentions, any of which could
make the top five on another day..."Moving in
Stereo" by The Cars, "Psycho Killer" by Talking
Heads, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" by
Joe Jackson, "The Message is You" by Gary Myrick
and "A Million Miles Away" by The Plimsouls.
Sometimes, believe it or not, I have
thoughts. Whether anyone is actually interested
in what those thoughts might be is subject to
debate (or not). However, I am a former writer
who sometimes has that itch and it must be
scratched. The writing I've been paid for has
consisted of news stories, web features and
magazine articles, but I have quite a bit of
fiction - finished and unfinished - collecting
cyber dust on my hard drive as well. I may post
fiction here at times, but I think mainly this
area of the website will serve as a means of
catharsis.
On those occasions when I simply cannot
contain a particular thought or opinion, I shall
post them here, just to get them out of my
system. Even if no one reads them, at least I
will have a way to release the internal toxicity
that can result from simmering anger, burning
curiosity or unchecked joy. Emotions in
particular are things that are not meant to be
kept bottled up. Fiction is a bit like that as
well. Though I have drifted from writing them
down for awhile, I do have periodic ideas that
I'd like to capture just to see if they look as
pretty in the light of day as they do inside the
darkness of my skull.
At any rate, whether I'm the only person
reading this or not, I find value in it. I hope
others do as well.
Hello friends,
It is with great joy that we welcomed Kayleigh
Veronica Citro into the world this morning at
9:50 a.m. Weighing in at only 4 pounds, she is a
tiny bundle of joy indeed. Mother recovering and
performed admirably, of course. Baby staying in
NICU unit as a precaution, but preliminary signs
are good and lungs seem to be ok.
I haven't slept in 32 hours (and counting), so
there will be no show tonight. I will be bonding
with the little one and attending to my tired,
sore wife. Oh, and sleeping!
Please tune in next week for a very special
year-ending installment of Epic Prog with The
Lurker, as we celebrate The Fifth Annual Lurky
Awards, featuring the year's best in prog.
Meanwhile, Archive Army soldiers may enjoy last
week's podcast for an additional week.
The world seems a little colder and a little
darker today, after hearing the sad news that Richard Wright of
Pink Floyd has passed away. Pink Floyd's music, with Richard's
sense of atmosphere and texture, has long been a part of my
life, as I'm sure it has been for many of the people who listen
to my radio show. It's been a constant companion over the years.
It can't be overstated how far reaching Richard's music has
been. Even now, I'm hoping to score some tickets to see The
Australian Pink Floyd Show, a tribute band that has made a fine
living emulating the work of the masters. It was the music that
got me through college; the music to which I still often
gravitate.
It seems a bit silly to experience such sorrow for the passing
of a person I've never met, but Richard's passing has hit me
where it hurts - in my memory. It's like losing a part of
yourself when someone like that passes on. I believe our
childhoods are living, breathing things, and the loss of a hero,
be it a musician, an athlete, a comedian, an actor, etc., is
like losing a part of that childhood.
Richard was only 65 years old. He seemed energized by touring
recently with David Gilmour for the "On an Island" album. It's
shocking and sad. I will have to put some thought into how best
to honor Richard this Friday on the program. But for now, I
can't think of that. I can only think of what the world has lost
that it will never get back. I think of all the other prog rock
heroes who are around Richard's age or older, almost all of whom
have been snubbed by a subjective and prejudiced entity known as
the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We simply must honor these men and
women before they are taken away from us forever.
Shine on, Richard. You will be missed.
Here's a crazy thought...
If the RIAA stopped spending money on attorney fees and instead
put that money into college endowments (or even high
school...middle school?), they could attack the problem of
illegal downloading from an entirely different, and probably
more effective, angle. They could stipulate in the endowments
that the school offer as an education course (or as part of
another existing course) on how illegal downloading hurts the
artists, and how that relates to killing the golden goose.
CSN (& sometimes Y) advised us to teach our children well. My
kid wanted to install Limewire to download songs. When I told
her it was stealing, she didn't believe me, got upset, and told
me that all her friends got their music that way. So I explained
the issue to her in detail and, at the end, I asked her if she
still thought it was ok to download songs for free, and she
admitted that it was not.
If the music industry spent its money on education, rather than
on retaliation and trying to recoup "damages" (i.e. some
arbitrary amount designed more to punish downloaders and file
sharers, and to pay their own attorneys), their battle might be
more effective. I know it wouldn't end illegal downloading, but
I think the CULTURE of illegal downloading could be, at least,
altered or shifted enough to benefit the artists and patch up
the industry's public relations problem.
Hello friends!
It is with mixed emotions that I announce that this Friday night
(June 8, 2007) will be the final installment of The Healing
Colors of Sound and also the last Epic Prog broadcast on the
Dividing Line Broadcast Network. Epic Prog will move to
www.progrock.com starting Friday, June 22. It will go back to
being a 4-hour show and will air at its usual time (8 p.m. to
midnight Eastern Time every Friday).
While I am sad to leave the Dividing Line, which has been the
internet home for "Epic Prog with The Lurker" for three and a
half years and the home of "The Healing Colors of Sound" for two
and a half years, the time has come to make a change. There are
many reasons for it, which I won't go into here. But I do want
to thank Shawn Bishop and Rene Young, who were so helpful in
getting me started in internet radio at the Dividing Line. I
also want to thank all the people who listened live, hung out
with me in chat and those who joined my mighty Archive Army. You
guys are the best!
I also want to thank Shawn Gordon at progrock.com for welcoming
me with open arms to my new digs. It's an exciting station with
an extensive prog rock library, great on-air personalities like
Joel Craig of "Interstellar Overdrive," Matt Sweitzer of the
famous "Canvas Prog Hour," and Charlie O'Mara from the Silhobbit
website. I look forward to reaching new listeners and I hope the
listeners I've had over the last three and a half years will
give the show a chance at its new location.
To give it a shot, simply paste the following URL into your
winamp player: http://kara.fast-serv.com:9288/prog1.ogg
We've also got a chat room, just like the Dividing Line, so feel
free to drop in and say hello on Friday nights. Just go to
www.progrock.com and click on the ProgChat link on the left hand
side to enter.
So, I hope to see a good turnout this Friday for my final
Dividing Line broadcast and again on June 22 for my debut on
progrock.com!
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