can it be??? am i actually posting this during the day and not late at night like usual??? it seems so!!! i better do this quickly because i'm somewhere important and this could get me into trouble. heh heh
alrighty, so today is tuesday and my stomach is in nots. i'm not sure what happened, but i'm thinking it was the food i had last night. anyway, it's almost lunch time and i need to do something i guess. maybe go eat, or maybe just chill here. regardless, i'm happy to be posting freely and not having to quickly jot down rubbish at home where my dad is giving me a hard time about "stupid blogging..." geeze, the guy just doesn't care at all...
right, so going off last nights twinkly posting, here's another band i'm diggin' called, Hightide Hotel. oh, and i'm going to make this a bit more interesting and construct a double listing, so after the first one, there's another awesome band called, By Surprise.
hightide hotel are a young band from philadelphia, pennsylvania that play the awesome, 90's style emo/midwest sort of thing. they have great singing and wonderful melodies that are both catchy and emotional. i can't help but sing along all the time with these guys.
their discography is growing slowly, but surely. they have several releases under their belts and with that, we start with their first ep release titled, Porch Luck. after that is an acoustic ep titled, Secret Somethings, followed by their split release with the other band i mentioned called, By Surprise. and lastly we finally have their debut full length titled, Nothing Was Missing, Except Me. be sure to give these a listen and look at the other band i'm posting as well.
ok, so now that we got the first band finished, here's the second one. this band goes by the name of, by surprise and they hail from somewhere in new jersey.
they play almost the same style of indie/twinkly/emo/pop music that all these other bands do, except they make it their own. in a sea of bands doing the same thing, you must stand out and be different, and take it from me, these cats are different. their music is upbeat and catchy, plus they show great technical skill when it comes to musical craft. man, i'm really loving this stuff. SERIOUSLY!!!
right, so by surprise's disco isn't all that big, but what's here is pure gold. first thing to check out is their debut ep titled, Four On Seven In Eight. this should next be followed by their split with hightide hotel, so don't forget that one up above. aaaannnnnnddddd with that i bid you adéu...
goodness!!! i’m soooooooo sorry for not posting during christmas weekend like i promised. time just got away from me so quickly, and well, you know how it is. the blog just wasn’t on my mind. oh, and i tried to post last night, but my dad’s computer became infected with a virus and caused the whole thing to become unworkable…
so yeah, anyway i hope you all had a great christmas. mine was most excellent!!! the get-togethers with the family were actually awesome and nothing bad happened which is AMAZING!!! i scored some sweet gifts, like money, uh, money and more money. i guess when you get older, money is a more easier present to give. lol. oh, and i also got a new South Park 2011 calendar and Inception on blu-ray baby!!! my gosh, the movie was even better the second time!!! and then rounding out the gifts, i received a new sweater, a new long sleeve shirt and dress socks and tank tops. overall, it was a good haul. with my christmas money, i went to norman, visiting hasting’s and finally picking up a dvd i ordered long ago, which happened to be the kung-fu classic, Master of The Flying Guillotine. i also grabbed the live action movie of the japanese manga, Dororo, which is another amazing film. what will i get next for myself??? stay tuned i guess…
aw, so over the past few months there has been this little known band that i found one random night while searching through the internet archives. they seemed to be an awesome bunch that were only around briefly, but made a mark that has stuck with me ever since. here today on a wolf at the door is, Midwest Pen Pals.
i believe this band formed before or after screamo/skrams act, Merchant Ships, but don’t quote me on that. (merchant ships were/are awesome by the way…) these kids hail from south bend, indiana and were only around a short time. they released one ep titled, Inside Jokes around 2009, and then broke up. they’ve reunited maybe once or twice since then, but have all moved on to newer projects, like the already mentioned merchant ships, who i think have broken up this year for good and another two bands called, William Bonney and Park Jefferson. if you must know their style, this little band of just teenagers played emotionally charged, 90’s influenced midwest emo, with all the best parts of twinkly math rock and screamo. i was shocked that such young kids made this music and you can definitely tell when you take a listen. it’s really good stuff and will please any fans who love artists like, Algernon Cadwallader, American Football, Street Smart Cyclist, Hightide Hotel, Snowing, Native, Boy Problems, Monument and Capn’Jazz just to name a few.
so, here is their ep called, Inside Jokes and also some demo's they had unreleased. their music is just one of the rare gems that i happened to get lucky and find. instead of having bands go unnoticed from little places all over the world, we have the internet to thank for letting us discover them one at a time. man, i really do love my hobby of finding music...
http://www.mediafire.com/?txtaumdjtnd
http://www.mediafire.com/?nwm2uj5r2tj
Hey dad, I've got some questions. one, where the fuck is mom? two, is she ever coming home? Three, why did she leave us? I know those are all sort of the same question, but i'm feeling sorry for myself. Why am I always sad? I keep pointing fingers but karma always get back at me.
Sometimes, I lay awake thinking about the past and all the shitty things that happened, the way it all turned out and the way that things are now. What are scars but memories we can't forget? well mom, you gave me a lot of scars and they really haven't faded. We all get your letters but you can't quite seem to get it, we all forgive, but none of us can forget. I hope you're doing well, maybe we'll talk again one day? I love you, I loved you never.
Soon we'll be alright; we've made plans to keep our heads high.
today is the big 12 championship!!! OU is playing nebraska and i can't be more excited to watch!!! i'm getting together with my family and were going to eat and have fun watching. oh, and earlier today i went out and did some apartment searching. i'm trying to decide between a one bedroom loft or just a plain ol' one bedroom. space is what i want and NEED, so that will probably be the deciding factor here.
for today's music, i want to keep it cheery and post something positive. here is a newer band that i'm right now listening to for the very first time!!! they are called, Everyone Everywhere.
this little band from philadelphia, pennsylvania is doing something right, and what's right is that they are taking their influences and making new things. right off the back, i'll get down to it and say that this is an old school 90's emo inspired band. i can't think of any other way to describe their sound, other than to say what many people have said before. these guys sound like, The Promise Ring, Texas Is The Reason, Piebald, and i'm going to throw in Jimmy Eat World just for kicks. their music so closely resembles the tunes those bands made its stunning, but also welcoming. this is a good reminder of how wonderful happy music can be.
for their music i think this is all they've put out so far. first is the Pants ep, followed by the 7 inch, A Lot of Weird People Standing Around, then their excellent self titled full length. the full length has made many best of the year lists, so get on it right now!!! dig it...
back to the grind. the holiday was very nice and welcomed by me. i managed to relax a bit and catch up on some much needed me time. shoot, on black friday i went out and purchased six new video games!!! DUDE!!! six new video games that i now need to beat… here’s the list:
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Fallout: New Vegas
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
God of War III
Demon’s Souls
in addition to these, on monday i checked out the cyber space sales and found three more games!!!
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
Sin & Punishment 2: Star Successor
MadWorld
so, yeppers. i got’s me some new games that will last me a LONG time. these need to be spread out over the upcoming year, so no rush to conquer them all. heck, i still have about ten left from the last few years that are all in the stages of being beaten. (most of them are about 75 to 85% complete…) don’t you hate it when you stop playing a video game and then come back and have to remember the feel of it all over again??? I DO!!!
anyways, back to the weekend. saturday night was an exciting one, what, with OU almost getting beaten by OSU at bedlam. OMG, seriously, it was a close game!!! very close… there were way too many missed plays to remember, but in the end, my team won and my family celebrated by jumping up and down, making the food in our stomachs churn and mix like cement. (mom made spaghetti!!!)
tonight will be my first practice for the upcoming native american christmas pageant. i will need to muster up all the strength i have in order to make this work. i was nicely asked, so i better step up and be a man, or in this case, joseph, the father of jesus…
i want to make this a one album post, so here is a little known band that kills every time i listen to them. they went by the name of, Mare.
mare was a very short lived band that existed from 2004 to 2007. they were from toronto, canada and shared members with the band, The End. aaaaannnnnnnndddddd that’s all i really know about them. how did i come to find them you might ask??? well, i did so by reading up on other bands such as, Isis, Jesu, Godflesh, Neurosis, Keelhaul, Converge, Botch, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Cult of Luna. as you hopefully can tell, mare have a close relation to the style those bands produce/produced. they were always mentioned when i scoped out profiles on that particular doom metal/post-metal/shoegaze style of music. glad i paid attention, because these guys were good. really, REALLY good, and they only released one ep!!! yes, ONE EP!!!
do yourself a favor and check these guys out. they were on the top of their game and remain legends despite their very short career and recorded output. if you like any of the bands i mentioned, this should work for you. dig it...
today is the day that halloween goes in full force. funny thing though, because last night felt like halloween. all the kids were out trick-or-treatin' and i guess that's because halloween fell on a sunday this year and you know how hard it is for little kids to get up and go to school. despite this, tonight will still be a fun night and i'm very excited because the premier of, The Walking Dead starts around nine or so. it's a new television series on amc that's being directed by the guy who made, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. just because of that, i believe it will be in good hands.
oh, and before i forget, i just want to go back to this past friday and mention a little bit of it. work was work, but that day was a lot of fun. all the departments got to carve pumpkins and i was picked to do ours. i had a hard time deciding on what to do, but then it hit me. i will make a cartman pumpkin!!!
ha ha i think he looks awesome!!!
so anyway, work ended and i blazed home to change and then head to my moms to pick up my little brother. it was my idea to take him to our church fall festival. he was tired and a bit grumpy, but nonetheless had a good time. it was also fun to see all my friends and family there. i even got to take a picture with my good buddy lexi, who dylan was trying to protect me from. (she was a vampire and you know how them vampires get...) i was also glad to see my best friend mike and his family. good ol' mike!!!
darth vader is posin' and somehow not burning his hand on his lightsaber...
and so the night ended with me going to norman to pick up my Withnail and I... bluray and then hitting the taco bueno to get some munchies. i got to bed at a decent time for once and slept in saturday until around eleven. saturday night was most excellent, what with me giving out tons of candy to neighborhood kids and some weirdo's and then watching OU beat the crap outta colorado. oh, and the food was awesome!!! my mom made chili and grasshoppers and cornbread. (grasshoppers are jalapeno peppers with cream cheese and bacon wrapped around it with barbecue sauce. mmm mmm good!!!) and as for today, well i stayed up too late and missed church, but i guess that's okay. it's not the end of the world. i'll make up for it somehow. until then, i hope everyone of you out there have fun and be safe tonight. there are a lot of crazies out there who want to be extra creepy, so be on the lookout!!!
oh heck, i almost forgot about the music. well, let's not get to moody here and instead relax with some awesome post-rock. this comes courtesy of the band, Tortoise.
tortoise is a wonderful post-rock band that started back in 1990 and are considered one of the best around. they hail from chicago, illinois and have made several groundbreaking albums in the genres of indie/electronic/ambient and of course, post-rock. the band has several members, some of which have been in other influential acts like, The Sea and Cake, Slint and that crazy dude known as, Beck.
today there are two albums i want you to check out. first is the second full length album by the band called, Millions Now Living Will Never Die. and after that we have my personal favorite which is their third full length simply titled, TNT. try these out and enjoy the landscapes. dig it...
what a week it's been so far. to start off, monday night i drove down to denton, texas and got to see Envy, La Dispute, Touché Amoré and a newer band called, And So I Watch You From Afar, tear up at a small rehersal studio called, Rubbergloves. it was a fantastic night, totaled out by the impressive technical aspects of the musicians and the people who came to see the spectacle. i left feeling very tired, but happy and in awe of the great performances i witnessed.
tuesday came and with that, a very sleepy schuyler. all wasn't so bad, what, with a friendly smile from a fellow co-worker who is cute, and an awesome lunch at buffalo wild wings. but, it wouldn't be a normal day if something hadn't happened in order to ruin the good mood. that ruiner was my lack of focus on keeping the files up to date and basically, not giving a crap about my job. ugh, oh how i hate feeling like a looser. this is a good job and i'm not doing it very well. it's not like the work is terribly hard or something, no!!! it's just tedious and i sit there staring at it, wondering what i want to do with my life, or how much longer can i hold out and not get sick in the bathroom... yeah, it's a bit like that. my writing is the only thing giving me hope. i use it to make myself feel better and also to try and pursue my personal goals.
i took today off in order to go to ada once again and see my doctors. this time it wasn't as bad as the last checkup, but maybe that's because i didn't do any blood work. so, after leaving ada, i passed through paul's valley like usual, but this time i took a detour and stopped to check out the action figure museum. it was awesome and very nostalgic. they had a wonderful collection of all types of action figures, ranging from the 1940's to present day. my favorite section wasn't really about the toys, but instead focused on cartoonist's and comic book artists from oklahoma. it was awesome to see some actual hand drawn panels from artists like, chester gould (Dick Tracy), russell myers (Broom Hilda) and bill mauldin (Willie & Joe). overall, it was a humbling experience that only reminded me of my young past and all the things i used to do and still want.
oh, and tomorrow night is the live halloween rifftrax special. this time the guys are going to be riffing on the horror movie classic, The House on Haunted Hill. spooky good times will be had!!!
okay, so i had a little help with the music selection since i just saw these guys monday. i've mentioned them before on here, so now it's finally their time. let's check out the band, La Dispute.
there was an amazing amount of energy this past monday night at the texas show. all the bands that played were on point and seemed very excited and energetic when playing. once la dispute came on stage, the crowd unleashed the most frantic fandom of the night. la dispute are one of the more recent screamo/skrams/emo bands to come along and play with heartfelt passion and a great nod to the past. they, along with acts like Touché Amoré, Ampere, Comadre, Daniel Striped Tiger and Pianos Become the Teeth, have been traveling and playing all over with a focus on great music and emotional response. it's a great remembrance of the bands long gone that started and inspired this scene and you can hear and feel it in their music.
la dispute are from grand rapids, michigan, and have been playing their style of post hardcore since 2005. they have garnered a strong fan base (which i witnessed on monday!!!) and are held up in high regard when it comes to their musical talent. you certainly don't want to miss out on this bunch. TRUST ME!!! oh, and one thing i want to mention is the lead singer, who reminds me of the guy from Mewithoutyou. it's an unusual voice, one that tends to sound like it's almost crying. pretty interesting...
ok, so now with the tunes!!! first up is their debut ep titled, Vancouver. this is then followed by a self titled seven inch, then the ep called, Here, Here Vol.1. after that is Here, Here Vol.2, then the incredible full length, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair. and in the two last places are the ep, Here, Here Vol.3 and their split with touché amoré, which i think is called, Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World. and that concludes our broadcast day. enjoy the music and get some much needed rest...
hello there, this is schuyler checking in and remembering what is coming up soon. actually, it’s an event that happens tomorrow. you see, this thursday is my birthday and i have been going over this post for about a year. well, my plans have been shot down, as i was going to write this long epic piece on the band, Radiohead, but have instead chosen to wait a bit longer for that. radiohead are too important for me and i don’t think i’ve given myself enough time to think about the basic idea for that post. you see, like i might have mentioned a few times before, this blog is much more than just a music posting site. no no, instead it’s a brief escape into my own little world of which i allow you all to read. the music is chosen very carefully every time i make a new statement, in order to coincide with my, at the moment, attitude and feelings. my history with certain bands are one’s usually dealing with my past, present and future, so i like to carefully take my time when writing on them. like i said, it’s more than just posting music for people.
so, it’s been a full year of living for me. i didn’t know if i was going to make it, but it seems i’m still here by golly. i can say that i’m grateful for that, but just not as enthusiastic like some might be. i blame that attitude on my depressive condition of which i currently have an everyday struggle with. despite that ordeal, i have made it through and things are beginning to look up, albeit, very slowly. i’m in the process of trying to save up and move out of my parent’s house, get a newer and better computer, decide on a car, spending time with friends, being open to new experiences, looking for that special someone, powwow dancing, eating healthy, working out everyday, church, sleeping, Call of Duty, catching up on The Office, waiting for the next Harry Potter movie, walking my dog, rubbing the cat, hangin’ with dylan, reading more books, eating buffalo wings, going to concerts, skipping soda pop, not visiting new mexico, working on the splashes, enjoying my job, being a good role model, keeping my hair short, trimming my nose hairs, waxing my eyebrows, listening to good music, possibly voting in the next election, skiing, applying, visiting, figuring out where bigfoot really is, pizza modifications, ignoring the media, traveling, halloween, new radiohead music, oklahoma weather, understanding my destiny, comprehending, coping, living, and writing, writing, WRITING!!!
here’s some music by a band i discovered through my travels here and there. what i mean is, i discovered them there, (new mexico) but they are from here, (oklahoma), so i guess that was backwards… anyway, the music is made by a band called, Damezumari.
the word, “damezumari”, comes from the japanese game called, Go, and it roughly means, no escape from an impossible situation, or better yet, “screwed”. i find it interesting that the band took their name from such a term, but after my first hearing of their music, it makes sense. damezumari formed back in 2003 and are from tulsa, oklahoma, but currently have members in other states. the band plays a very wonderful version of screamo/skrams that is both powerful and exciting, yet also tender and full of enough hooks that you can’t help but hum too. to me, they represent the best of what modern emo has to offer, and this is only met when you filter out all the current garbage and get down to the source. they have great instrumentation that seldom reminds me of the twinkly sounds from the midwest scenes, and singing/screaming that is chaotic like the old san diego style from the mid 90’s. thusly, if happen to dig bands like, Drive Like Jehu, On the Might of Princess, Braid, Angel Hair, Algernon Cadwallader, Swing Kids, Antioch Arrow, Clickitat Ikatowi, Hot Cross and Yaphet Kotto among thousands of others you will probably like damezumari. and really, i can’t argue enough, for when i say check this out each and every time, i really mean it. these guys are good and i consider it as my birthday present to post them on here. thanks guys!!!
okay, so hopefully this will be their entire discography and with no faulty spots. oh, and just to say it, sorry for any weird links and abnormal sized pics. i try hard to make all the posts look neat and tidy, but it sometimes doesn't happen like that. yeah, so in firstplace is their demo called, No Hugging = No Learning. this is then met by their official debut called, Angelous Novus, which is an ep. next we have another ep called, The Politics of Lonely, which is a phrase from a Weakerthans song. after that is another album, or possibly ep called, Hitherandthithering Waters Of. and then, we now come to my personal favorite, which is a three way split with local oklahoma screamo bands, Steeples and Someplace To Hide. next in line is another split, this time with the band, Fire Team Charlie, then their latest release called, Hope Inscribed on Handbills. in last place is supposed to be their newest album, Blood Meridian, but it doesn't seem to be available yet. it might never be, but i'll be sure to keep and eye open for that one. alrighty, you see the goods, now go grab them. enjoy the sounds and thanks for stopping by during the celebrations here!!!dig some...
in keeping with my current tastes, it seems this years Top Chef, isn’t as good as last season. the quality of the cooking doesn’t look that appealing and the contestants aren’t separate enough to be unique in their own right. even though i fuss about this, i can’t find a better show to watch on a wednesday night. (until SouthPark starts back up that is…) anyway, top chef is a reminder that people can create works of art out of nothing. in this case, food is the material and it’s a hard form to handle. (i know i’m not capable of making such fantastic food…)
during the week, top chef has become the beacon of hope in an otherwise dreadful slump. sure there’s always church on the same night, and i’m eternally grateful for that, but when it comes to wanting something a bit more in my area of artistic inspiration, top chef hits the mark. it makes me want to create, which my current use of writing seems to be filling in for. going back, there was a time when i used to draw really good. (at least in my mind it was good…) but yeah, i was a self proclaimed lover of the arts and i wanted to draw comics and paint epic scenes of my inner most thoughts. after high school, i stopped completely. my excuse for this decision is that my art didn’t develop past making rip-offs of Dragon Ball Z and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. i want to kick myself right now for quitting because after a few doodles, my style has become much worse and i can’t even draw a face hardly. i’d like to take a few classes just to freshen up, but i honestly don’t know how well that would work. i guess there’s no harm in trying, but what use do i have of it??? i’m so far into writing that going back to that old dream seems like a rash decision on my part, and something i can’t afford to spend my time on. (i keep feeling like the end is near for me…)
besides wanting to make my own comics, i also wanted to make movies. i always had these bizarre ideas in my head that i desperately had to produce. i know nothing of the form, besides crafting awkward reviews, so i can’t begin to describe my style for it and reasons behind the madness. i guess this is why i started writing in the first place. i knew, and so did everyone else, that writing down my crazy stories is the only way for them to be possibly recognized, and even then, i was taking a long shot. (who reads anymore???) oh boy, those early days were full of so much doubt and suffering on my part. as for anybody just starting out, you have some of the biggest hurdles to conquer, one of them being confidence and another being pride. maybe those two are related, but i like to separate them because they both represent me during my early writing stages. not like i’m some super awesome writer now, but i do know i have progressed greatly since my scrappy beginning.
when i got accepted into art school, i felt like a king. i was so proud and, honestly, i thought i was something special. “they picked me out of tons of applications!!! that must mean i’m awesome!!!” well… I was quite WRONG!!! my butt was handed to me that first year. just about everything i did was torn apart by the older students and it totally made me loose all hope i originally had in myself. over the course of the next four years, my feelings towards art changed, as well as me personally and physically, and in the end i left that school with mixed feelings. i studied myself crazy and passed with good grades, but for what purpose??? (i often think that…) i currently have a desk job and blog almost everyday to keep the flame alive. the flame of creativeness i’m stillinspired to use…
and like the wind, constantly moving, inspiration comes at any time. here today is a little band that took inspiration and made their own ideas come alive. they were called, Anatomy of A Ghost.
anatomy of a ghost had a cool name. seriously, i love it!!! there was a time when i used to read rock magazines like crazy, and this band would seldom pop up in various ads. i never paid them much attention, but after hearing their song called, “on to morning stars” i quickly caught on. the band apparently started back in 2002 and ended in 2004. i think they were from portland, oregon and also had members from wasilla, alaska. the music they made was typical post-hardcore/emo/screamo stuff from the early 2000’s, and because of this, was often written off as typical flavor of the month tripe. (the band emerged right around the time Saosin and From First to Last got popular…) since this was the case, most people never got the chance to experience their music or see them live, me being one of them. (they came to okahoma in 2003 or 2004, but i disregarded that show as crappy stuff and skipped it like a bad street in the ghetto…)
my bad!!! so anyway, to better describe the bands sound i’m going to have to name drop a few references. think of the guitar work of Coheed and Cambria during their early years as well as At-the Drive In, and then mix that with a little bit of Thursday’s background screaming style and the soft focus of, say a band like Further Seems Forever and you might be near to what i’m hearing in my head. and like i said, they weren’t as well received when they first came out, but after several years of laying dormant, the band has sort of risen to legendary status. their style resembles the stages of midwest 90’s style emo, where it was all about the substance and not the style. the band, arguably, tears through their music with gusto and non-egotistical notions towards making it not seem bigger than what it was, but nonetheless full of young angst. the music still sounds distinct and inspirational in that, “i can make music too!!!” sort of way. (i like to remember Desaparecidos when talking like that. If there was any sort of band that maked me wanna go out and make music for the sake of it, they took the cake.)
and so the music is finally upon us. to this day, anatomy of a ghost only released one album, and it's called Evanesce. it's pretty much the only recorded documentation out there of the band besides live bootlegs maybe. yeah, this might be a bit sad that it's only what they have to offer, but raise your head up because not all is lost!!! if you happen to really like their music, then i highly suggest to travel along and check out the band called, Portugal. The Man. this group emerged from the ashes of anatomy of a ghost and have been on a killing streak ever since. it's the same vocalist and same bass player and, to this day, the band has released over six albums and five ep's!!! i might get to them at a later time, but for now enjoy some of the past because we all start out with scrappy beginnings, and eventually we emerge as hopefully something better if we stick with it. ya dig???
http://www.mediafire.com/?3zdtdd14qib
We flail on to morning stars We'll offer all of ourselves just not to close our eyes Seize onto the sun as it rises in the east Ascend to open doors hanging heavenly Suspended in the superlunary even broken you'll be back to still stand
I'll shatter the silence to tell you we won't last long If this canopy crashes down, crushing us That's the only way to break this apart
And although the moon is falling down on us Don't expect this day to end Do you see that star? Well, I'll meet you there When you read this you'll be well on your way Please write soon, so I know that you have gotten home safe And please don't forget me
How I worked hearts molded in mache to some mended way of beating before we behold them break and both Painting pictures that will never fade still they crack Clutched at the crushing in our chests dizzy we'll see stars dazzle like glass shards sparkle shatter (The violence in destroyed frames)
And if the sheltering sky will slip to sever us We'll receive it We will reap it Always remember
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