Description:
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name!.. Screwed :The truth about life as a Prison Officer by Ronnie Thompson.. MILK.. KunK on XFM..
Contents:
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name!
Thanks for visiting my page. Not a lot to see yet, but I'm really liking the possibilities here.
I'm in the process of finishing up my first 'solo' album. Some of you may remember me from "Glue: A Tribute to the Music of Duran Duran" that I released way back in 1999, and then the "Bangs...Sounds of the 80's" sets I produced three years later.
I've actually done stuff since then (a few bands called Spy Matthews, Post Orgasmic Trauma, and Ready might ring a bell with 3 or 4 people across the globe). The last several years have been mostly corporate multimedia and making a name for myself in voice over.
But the guitar, it can't be silenced! So I'm back into the world of my real passion, making some damned catchy pop music and wearing shiny clothes. 
Screwed :The truth about life as a Prison Officer by Ronnie Thompson
Go buy this book if you like your british gangster type of films, released on Jan 24 it's available in all good book shops (most well known being Waterstones,WH Smiths, ASDA) and several online retailers.
Check out Ronnie's myspace for more info who is in our top friends - http://www.myspace.com/ronnie_screwed and his website - http://www.ronniethompson.co.uk - You can read the first chaper for free on there as well.
You may have read about it in Nuts magazine and The Metro newspaper this week as well. Check it out.
Nice one,
EP.
MILK
As seen in Rolling Stone & Cashbox Magazine, MILK's new album produced by Fran Ashcroft (Gorillaz, Dandy Warhols, Damon Albarn) in Los Angeles and Liverpool.
MILK new album available on iTunes.
"This is a new exciting band. You are going to dig what Milk is about."
Alexander Laurence/ SF Burning Magazine
Monochrome is definitely a mix tape must. Monochrome seems ready for prime time TV or to be included on the soundtrack for a motion picture. Each song on Milk unravels to reveal a new level of greatness to the bands sound.
Justin Scro/ Cashbox Magazine
Their mission is to lead a new trend of "New Alternative Psychedelia", combining the aesthetics of trippy hippie bands with a post-grunge appeal and a "forward thinking" vision.
Campus Circle Magazine.
A great first outing from MILK and definitely a band to keep an eye on.
Colin Meeks, IndieLaunchPad.com
The band's music is high energy and filled with fuzzy amped
up sounding guitars along with whiplash causing drum beats.
C.W. Ross/Â Indiemusicstop.com
MILK is good for you- that is if you like fuzzed-out, trippy guitar rock that simmers, boils and frequently explodes./ Entertainment Today
KunK on XFM
For anyone that missed our XFM session from wednesday nights X-Posure with John Kennedy, you can listen again by visiting www.xfm.co.uk.
You can then hear the four tracks that we recorded for them in London on Tuesday along with a short interview with Will!
Kunk on XFM
RockAffairs favourites, Kunk, recorded a session for XFM on Tuesday - for anyone that missed the first play on Wednesday night's X-Posure with John Kennedy, you can listen again by visiting www.xfm.co.uk.
You can hear the four tracks that they recorded, along with a short interview with Will.
Music for the People.
music is just fun.dont take it seriously,fuck the bonos of this world who use music as an excuse to further there egotisitical path to enlightenment.Music shouldnt change the world but it should change you......
Hello, Everyone!
Are you ready to rock?!!
The Beatle Boys Small Gig
On May 17, 2008, The Beatles Boys will reunite to perform a small gig at a church activity in Orlando, Fl. The last time they perform live was in May 1996. The band will perform some of there classic hits. The Beatle boys were form in early 1981 in honor of John Lennon who was murder on December 8, 1980.
So I have this geeeetar...
And am having loads of trouble trying to get my fingers to get chords to go right. I think my fingers are too stubby to do a lot of things with it.
Anyone have any advice or can point me to a video either on the web or dvd or whatnot that could help me out with this? I really want to play the damn thing LOL.
NEW ALBUM TRACKS & INFO...
NEW ALBUM TRACKS & INFO...
ALBUM TITLE... BURGER KINGDOM
TRACK LISTING...
1. MOANER LIZA SMYTHE
2. BURGER KINGDOM
3. QUICKSAND
4. VISIBLE TARGET
5. FEELIN LIKE ELVIS
6. YOU ZOMBIE
7. UNDADOG
8. NEXT IN LINE
9. END OF THE WORLD
10. ENEMIES
11. MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN
12. COME BACK
------------------------------------------
PLUS... Special LIVE & STUDIO bonus tracks
THE BAND...
Andy Taylor - Guitar & Vocal
Liam Keenan - Vocals & Piano
Joe Breban - Drums
Mikey Dunn - Bass
PRODUCED by Andy Taylor
WRITTEN & ARRANGED by Andy Taylor & Liam Keenan
RECORDED @ ATSI - April & May 2008
THIS ALBUM WAS PLAYED BY HUMANS & NOT RECORDED ON A TEMPO GRID OR FROM A MACHINE
BLAME THE BBC - HUNGOVER STUNTMEN
Hungover Stuntmen released their debut album Blame the BBC on Monday 28th April. It is now available from all good online retailers and many HMV stores around the country.
Produced by RockAffairs very own Andy Taylor, absolutely recommended - get your copy as soon as you can.
The circle of the fairies...
From: The man of the sand
...To the shoulders of that ustling shadow, took shape ghost of oxen with highest horn which become tame to the first gesture of its hand; then he spoke: "Don't you hurry so; if you don't watch the sands carefully you risk being swallowed up by them!"
His voice was similar to a thunder, but deep, dark as if as you had never heard any; however I wasn't terrified.
"I'm the man that you are looking for, I'm Aeropo the cowherd! "He held through the thick beard.
"If you left to go all and therefore, you look at me straight in the my eyes you would see your birth, that's what you are breathlessly searching." "Where I would find myself?" I had the courage to ask.
"In the game of the more hidden powers, in the true earth of Berrohè where the Court of the Displeased ones supervises on the three talismans, where the brought races haven't equal in the world: fast animals like the wind, with the arched and powerful neck, with the wide chest and the quivering nostrils, oxen with gilt backs and heated eyes, the place where the earth is opaque and heavy and the stables surpass the hills, where the hooves are shod with silver and the ringing bridles announce infinite lines."
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New Stuff on the Site
Welcome to RockAffairs!
Thanks for your patience whilst we updated the site over the last few days. All the new code has been uploaded, and it's time for you to start bugging us about the bugs.... for a full rundown on what's new, please check out the blog entry on the members page.
In the meantime, there are a ton of uploads from Andy Taylor Studios Ibiza for your listening pleasure - some brand new tracks and some old favourites - exclusively available on RockAffairs.
All listeners who sign up before the middle of May will get a 1 month free upgrade to Access All Areas.
All bands who sign up before the middle of May will get a 1 month free upgrade to Merchant account.
Please note that upgrades are manual and may take up to 24 hours to process.
New Single: SLIM K "(Move & Dance) Burn The Disco" release dates and cover art
One Artist
One Song
15 Years in the making
Produced in Germany and the US
Remixed in Norway, Netherlands, Germany and UK
Finally "(Move & Dance) BURN THE DISCO" is here
Ignited by the hottest dj's in town
Garantueed to burst a club near you
Putting out the fire by excessive moving & dancing is strongly recommended!!
Just make sure to stop and have a drink afterwards at the "RED LIGHT LOUNGE"
Where you will meet a "Society Bizarre"
"(Move & Dance) BURN THE DISCO" by Slim K , an electrifying retro pop funk sexplosion:
a mixture of hot summer night breeze late 70s early 80s club sound, yet contemporary
in the tradition of Michael Jackson, Chic, Jamiroquai, Rick James and The Gap Band.
Title: (Move & Dance) BURN THE DISCO
Artist: Slim K
Label: doubaJen Records
Lyrics: Slim Khezri (ASCAP)
Produced: Slim Khezri, Thorsten Adam
Remixed: Marcel Agterhuis, Sinan Mercenk, Mhe Hseeri, Thorsten Adam
Genre: Pop
Album Number: X067055 - UPC: 859700677018
>> Official Release Dates: - confirmed stores -
May 26th, 2008: Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic, lala, GroupieTunes, Zune
May 27th, 2008: iTunes USA, iTunes Japan, iTunes Canada, iTunes Australia/ New Zealand
May 27th, 2008: iTunes UK, iTunes Europe ( Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland)
Generated by online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. and TuneCore Inc.
© 2008 doubaJen Records - all rights reserved
All dates subject to change, a week earlier or a week later,
but overall that's the date most likely to be released,
your album should be live before 01-Jun-2008.
Hungover Stuntmen - Inside Out - Now on Sale
Hungover Stuntmen's first single, Inside Out, is now available. Download it today from iTunes
Their album, Blame the BBC, is due for release on 28th April. Click here to pre-order your copy from HMV for just £8.95 including free delivery!
Hungover Stuntmen - Inside Out Now Available
Hungover Stuntmen's first single, Inside Out, is now available on iTunes.
Listen to it today at www.rockaffairs.com
New Single: STATEMENT April 1st, 2008
STATEMENT April 1st, 2008
âDear girls, boys and anything in between,
It is with great pleasure, a tear and a smile that we announce the release of a new single in like â¦. forever. The new track, âBURN THE DISCO move & danceâ, was made from blood, sweat, tears, hair pulling and lip biting endurance. Through a few peoples bullsh*t all over the planet and 15 years of incredible patience.
The release was first set for March/ April 2008 (yeah as well as back in 190 . However, due to Slim Kâs crazy schedule in film and television projects including OTELLO at Los Angeles Opera (and the two World Wars). So inevitably the release date was pushed to May 2008 ⦠Hey weâve waited 100 years for this .. guess we can bear another 3 or 4 more weeks donât you think?
The new single, âBURN THE DISCO move & danceâ will be available to you as a digital download on i-Tunes and other digital online outlets (Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon, emusic and many moreâ¦). The correlation across weekly and monthly measures of sales outcomes will determine the next step of pressing a special limited edition of physical CD packaging.
The new single, âBURN THE DISCO move & danceâ will be available to you in three versions: a basic, a basic + three remixes and a 13 track EP âBURN THE DISCO move & danceâ -palooza !!!
Oh yes weary consumer! As if that werenât enough, there will be merchandising: Slim K âBURN THE DISCO move & danceâ t-shirts, caps, mugs, stickers and YES ⦠thongs & panties .. since we want to be close as possible to YOU, (hmm we forgot the bras!)
To accompany this monumental occasion we have shot an incredible amount of video footage between Feb.- April (and are still shooting this week) for an EPK (interview), behind the scenes, music video (that incl. about 3 versions) and four brand new photo shoots.
We hope you understand that all creative work and business is overlooked by Slim K himself. Since unfortunately he has only two arms, two legs, side projects left and right and 24 hours in a day. we are trying our best to stay on top of the busy schedule.
Please keep checking www.slimk.cjb.net for the exact release date, news and updates (and you know theyâre coming) ⦠and if youâre still confused and we certainly do not want you to be confused, send your concerns to Slim K Managment : SlimKContact@gmail.com
In addition to this release, SLIM K is constantly working with different events, tours and show organizers for upcoming Summer performances.
We will keep you posted on this as well. Slim K will be everywhere your Google dirty fingers take you this year and itâs good to feel we are close to destination.â
STATEMENT April 1st, 2008 - issued by
SST Arts Entertainment Ltd. | doubaJen Records
c/o Slim Khezri Management
>> SLIM K Online
www.slimk.cjb.net
www.myspace.com/slim_k
www.myspace.com/slimkmusic (join today!)
www.youtube.com/slimkhezri
Access All Areas
Thanks for registering for a free account with RockAffairs - the Access All Areas page is where we will feature exclusive tracks and previews from your favourite RockAffairs artists.
It's just one of the benefits of becoming an AAA member (or subscribing as a band...) - you also get access to a ton of features, such as custom playlists, participation on the forum and a chance to rate bands and songs, amongst other things.
Hope you enjoy the site!
Get RockAffairs on Facebook
If you want to be able to listen to the RockAffairs Shoutcast whilst you're on Facebook, you can now add our Shoutcast Stream to your page.
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
And, if you want a RockAffairs feed on your Facebook page too, that updates automatically when new songs, gigs or news is added....
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS
What's new on the site!
Most of the new code has been uploaded now, and you'll be noticing quite a few changes.
First, all member profiles have been ported over to the RockAffairs default skin. Sadly, that means every member who had previously customized their skin will have lost those changes (band profiles remain unaffected) - but, don't worry, if you customise your page again, the changes will stay for good. So be as creative as you can, and if you're proud of your work, share it with the rest of us!
The new skin allows for greater support of languages across the site. You'll notice that we already have German, Italian and Spanish translations of the main content, many thanks to San and Andrea for their help with this! I know one or two of the translations are still a little off the mark (my fault, not theirs!), but these will be resolved over time.
Second, how can you fail to notice the new control panel? I know many people felt confused by the old one, so this is our attempt to make things easy. Ironically, because of the redesign, we've lost language support in the control panel, but this will be added back as soon as we can do it.
The forum now has subforums, so people can talk about whatever they want instead of pussyfooting around trying to be all clever and shit. The videopost forum is a pretty new idea - post your favourite videos from YouTube or GoogleVideo for us to take a look at - click on BBCODE when you're posting a new note to see how this is done.
[With regards to copyright, all we're doing is linking to YouTube/Google - we are not hosting the videos on our server, and it is their responsibility to remove infringing material... so post anything you want, and the powerful corporations will remove it if it's deemed to be an infringement on someone else's IP.]
For bands, the Fan Mailer can now send HTML email & the new Newsletter Manager should allow you to keep in touch with your fans very easily. This is still very much a 'test feature', but all working very well at the moment. Notes have also been updated to allow sending Internet Email.
Other stuff? Oh there's plenty of other stuff, but it's all technical... for the geeks:
* Ranking System now uses post-process cache and creation.
* Updated to support experimental interfacing with a MemCached caching server
* New playlist plugin architecture
* New BBCode Plugin architecture
* SQL performance tuning throughout
And, this takes us to RockAffairs BETA 3.31! Anyone wanna get me a Jager to celebrate?
And now I've bored you all to tears, enjoy the new music from ATSI... I fuckin' am.
It's all about control....
The new control panel should hopefully make it easier for everyone to find their way around the site, and to find features they may have previously missed. It's the first in a number of upgrades to the site you'll see this weekend, and definitely the biggest.
As always, if anyone has any problems using the control panel, drop me a line... in the meantime, I hope it's an improvement on the old one...
Discovering our Artists - April Edition
I just wanted to take some time to point you in the direction of some of the music on the site outside the ATSI fold... we really are lucky to have such a bunch of talented artists on the site, and particular thanks to all those bands who helped me and put up with my tantrums during the BETA stage...
Our new joiners Din Radio & TV SOUND (isn't their name alone a give away?) have taken that 80s sound and given it a new spin. Other bands you may enjoy include Lets Talk Tactics and Elektradog.
For those of you who got over the 80s some 20 years ago and prefer your music to have a bit of an edge - check out KunK, Exile Parade (Love Disco is probably my favourite track on the site to date), or Sol Devious.
Or if you just want some fun Kaiser-esque tracks - take a listen to The Frantic, or the absolutely brilliant BODYMACHINE.
The "bunnylist" has a great selection of these and other artists, so put it on play and make your own mind up. Remember to rate the artists you like & add yourself as a fan, show them some support!
The first days of BetaV3
I finally took password protection of the site around 3am Monday morning my time - I'd spent 4 horus trying to figure out why a particular feature of the site wasn't working - then I thought - forget it, just let it not work for now. That's what BetaV3 is all about... 95% of the site behaves the way it should, the other 5%, I can fix over time. There's no point delaying the opening whilst I fret over functions...
We're not promoting heavily yet, but you can help us with the promotion effort a little. If you have StumbleUpon installed, give us the thumbs up (and if you don't have StumbleUpon installed, whyever not? It's a great little tool for IE and Firefox, hours of quality entertainment - http://www.stumbleupon.com/) - Digg It, Technorati it, Furl it, the links are all there.
Great to see so many of you joining up at this early stage... stay tuned for the future...
Site breakdown ahoy!
I'm doing a lot of daring things today - for example, getting rid of some of the backup files I used when developing the site. This could cause some unexpected errors... please bear with me whilst I go through this exercise and if you notice anything missing, drop me a line and let me know. I know that there's going to be a few problems with the display of the charts, and the image browser, but those are the only two I'm immediately aware of.
Once this is done, however, the site should be a lot faster, as I can put a proper caching system in place.
If you've not checked them out yet, please take a listen to some of the new bands we've had sign up over the last 48 hours. I am LOVING KunK - their debut single was released on Monday, and you can stream it on the site - if you like it, please buy it. It's a shame you can't get it from here yet, but you can get it from most of the other reputable online retailers....
Other great tracks, take a listen to Exile Parade's storming 'Love Disco' & the everso fun 'Little Things' by Bodymachine.. and once you're done with the dancing, mellow out with a few tracks from The Stocks...
If you can't make your mind up, tune into the RockAffairs Shoutcast, then make a playlist of your own!
Kick off
Today's the day I kicked off the 'talent campaign' - our aim, to get 100 very cool bands and artists registered to the site before we go live to the general public. Don't ask me what it was that appealed about the day... February 16th, nothing really special about that, right? It just felt like the right time to be doing it.
The RAFC machine is finally here, but there are a few problems. First I've not had time to install all the software I need - most notably my spell checker. Second, most of my data is still on my laptop. But I'm taking a softly, softly approach and hopefully things will sort themselves out over the coming weeks.
In the meantime I hope you enjoy the new bands and artists we have signing up and look forward to reading your thoughts on them very soon!!
One of those days
Wake up. Head hurts. Serves me right.
Power lead arrives. Plug in the computer. Computer explodes.
Go out to do my grocery shopping for the week. Come back. Lift is out of service - again. Takes me three trips to carry the groceries up to the 6th floor.
Computer people ask me to return the computer. Back down six flights with a super-heavy smouldering towercase. Back goes CLICK. OUCH.
I think: I deserve a fucking drink after all that. Go to the fridge. Have forgotten to buy anything alcoholic.
Grab myself an apple instead. Bite into it. Recently root-canalled tooth also goes crackkkkâ¦
Call mom & dad for some comfort. They're sympathetic enough, but I can TELL that they're gonna hang up and laugh themselves silly.
Listen to music.
Feel slightly better.
Remember there's a new episode of Lost tonight.
Feel a ton better.
...tomorrow, the sun will shine...
LOCKDOWN!!!
Season 4 of Lost starts, and the site shuts down for a couple of days. Funny how that happens. Not to mention that we're refering to it as the 'lockdown'....
The RAFC computer arrived at 6pm today. The lift wasn't working. So I singlehandedly carried what seemed like a ton of equipment up to the 6th floor, not even pausing for breath with the excitement of the new arrival. Unpacked the speakers first, and drooled a little. Black, powerful and very sexy... if only I could find a man to match....
Then I open up my computer. Quad-processor, 6 gig of RAM, self-cooling fanless system, Lightscribe DVD recorder... this is what I've been waiting for, for over a week....
And then I realise there's no power cable & - even if all the shops aren't quite closed yet - by the time I've walked the mile and half to PC World, walked back, and climbed those goddamned stairs again, I'll be too knackered to do anything...
MaÅana....
SBS2008: The aftermath
SBS2008 successfully knocked 3 days out of my working schedule when I realised that my computer didn't actually have any ports to plug in to the internet. I'd happily been using wireless at home, and the hotel I stayed in for the tail part of my journey didn't have wireless in the rooms. Those of you who know who gave me the computer will laugh about this... was this a planned revenge, 6 years in advance? Well, I ain't about to write to him to find out, that's for sure...
The event itself was great, however. AT sent a video over to introduce the Rock Affairs concept to the assembled masses, and postcards were distributed at the end of the evening (well, the early morning as things transpired). The highlight of the evening, and indeed my entire stay, had to be Chekhov's Wig's set - they are truly awesome.
Just how climatic is this ending?
DIG THE WIG!!!
New York Bound
So, I'm off to SBS:2008 to launch the beta testing phase of the website. This doesn't phase me in the slightest, although maybe it should, as I'm sat furiously tapping away at my keyboard making last minute changes just 4 hours before I'm due to leave... and I haven't even packed yet. Indeed, I haven't seen my passport since just before the New Year. Which won't surprise those who know me.
I'm chuffed to note that Lets Talk Tactics have already signed up - which makes them the first non-ATSI band on the site. I started a random conversation with their singer, Aron, on the platform at Tottenham Hale after the works Christmas party a couple of weeks ago, and was plesantly surprised at how much I enjoyd their music. A mashup of rave, electro and rock, it's refreshing and unique - so I've added 'The Getaway' to the front page player to give everyone a chance to hear them.
One more little bug to fix and I won't see the internet world for another 12 hours. Withdrawal won't be pleasant - I'm enjoying my Rock Affair a little too much to go cold turkey....
One small 54-hour session later.
Phone switched off. Curtains drawn. Fridge stocked with energy drinks & plenty of vodka. Snack food, everywhere - olives, nuts, cheese, cold egg-fried rice, peppadew, even more cheese... double-lock the door and that's me for the weekend. It's time to get down to some coding. Within 12 hours I have the payment system working. Artists can sell digital tracks on the site now. That's good, it's a major step forward, but I'm not quitting there.... so I start to tackle the subscription system. It takes me a good 5 hours to get the quotas set up the way I want them to be. Another 5 hours to get the template looking right. Then there's the writing - the descriptions of what we offer - I have no idea how to highlight how groundbreaking the entire thing is... so I concentrate on integrating it into PayPal before I get to the blurb.
I am no big fan of PayPal - they locked my personal account without any good reason earlier this week, but for now it's the payment processor we're going with. I'm looking for other solutions, but that can wait for a while. I just want to get it working. I eventually get it working. I don't quite believe I've got it working, so I test it and test it and test it and....
Fuckin' hell. It works.
Then I get to writing the blurb about each account level we offer. There's only one level of upgrade for listener subsciptions - the VIP level - and that value of that speaks for itself The Artist Accounts were more difficult to summarise. Each account has been tailored to suit bands at different points in their career, and I want to highlight this as simply as possible.
I suddenly realise I've not slept for 48 hours. But that's OK. I'm feeling good, I'm elated that I've got it working. So then I tackle two other major things - modifying the forum code and - yes - cross-browser compatibility testing. I use the site browsercam.com for all my testing, and I can't recommend it enough.
Convinced that the website works in all my browsers, except the one I have at work, I finally decide to call it a day. More like an entire weekend, but I call it a day anyway. I write to M.P.I.C. I inform him of the upgrades. I pour myself one last drink, I fill in the dev log.... and then I go to bed. Zzzzzzz.....
Some new additions
Got a lot of little things done this week. Added guestbook functionality, added the code for sharing skins, swatted around at some of the little bugs that were bugging me. There's still one major flaw that needs to be addressed though, and that is - the site looks awful in certain browser.
Compatibility testing isn't really a favourite hobby of mine. Everything looks peachy in MY version of Firefox, and MY version of Internet Explorer - why should I bother about the rest of yous? Then I remember, I have to bother about the rest of yous if I actually want people to enjoy the RockAffairs experience...
And quite the experience that's turning out to be. The email exchanges between me and my partner in crime have been generating many-an-idea. I'm tearing at the bit to get everything done, survived on 10 hours sleep over the last 5 days. Sure, this led to me launching a torrent of abuse at a random stranger - he decided to open a door I was leading against - despite it being a glass door, and it being very obvious I was leaning against it (****) - indeed, my maniacal side is more-than-ever evident - but it's getting done, and it's all good.
A few more ticks in the boxes - we're on our way.
The start of an affair....
Today was the first day I felt comfortable enough with the site to let someone else look at it. Work in progress -- particularly creative work in progress -- is a very personal thing. You have your own vision of how the final product will look, and feel, and work, and sound, but have you done enough to get that over to the preview audience?
So you hold off, you add new stuff, you take old stuff away, then you take away the new stuff you've added. You realise you've gotten through 40 cigarettes, but nothing has really changed. You get frustrated. You bang your head against the desk a few times.
Then you walk away.
Walking away is the best thing you can do sometimes. Leave it be, turn off the computer, come back with a fresh pair of eyes and ears in the morning Sometimes you'll realise - what you thought beyond redemption is a diamond that just needs a little polishing...
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