Treehouse of HORROR #18
October 31st, 2012 by chocko
It’s that time of year again for Bongo Comics issue of twisted terror featuring The Simpsons! The first story of this “48-page chill-tacular” is titled “Eerie Beery” and features everybody’s favorite animated family going on a vacation, taking a wrong turn and ending up in a dark cabin where Homer awakens evil spirits that turn the rest of the family into hungry zombies. There’s a twist ending and a chainsaw wielding Homer Simpson that will leave you gasping in horror. Awesome story and art courtesy of brothers Shane and Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther).
“Margemary’s Baby” is a supernatural homage to the classic horror movie Rosemary’s Baby. The art is by Phil Noto (Danger Girl) and the story was written by Gerry Duggan of Attack of the Show! The story starts with a young couple (Marge and Homer) looking to move into a Downtown Springfield apartment. They get introduced to their creepy neighbors, Monty Burns and Smitherina and the hellish nightmare begins. Will Marge hit it off with “Ol’ Long Horns” and spawn the son of Satan? Check it out!
“One Bart And Stormy Knight” is my favorite of the bunch! In Bartman’s latest adventure he battles Drunkzilla, Mr. Squishee, Kitten Delight and his evil nemesis, The Giggler a.k.a. Lisa. It looks like Bartman has finally met his match. Marge and Homer, looking like Frankenstein monsters join in on the battle royale and look ready to do some damage with the help of a large kitchen knife and a power drill. This is a fun read with a surprise ending. The art by Tone Rodriguez and Andrew Pepoy is spooktacular!
“The Bride!” is another homage to another classic horror movie classic, The Bride of Frankenstein. Jim Valentino (ShadowHawk) and Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man) join forces to tell the story of some of Springfield’s regulars gathering at the local bar Moe’s and recalling the classic horror masterpiece. The latest Treehouse book is awesome and features a classic cover by Hilary Barta! His blog LimerWrecks is super fun and features limericks which mostly focus on film, but beware of spoilers!
Tags: 18, bongo comics, book, comic book, review, the simpsons, treehouse of horror
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CHILLER THEATRE EXPO – an appetizer ode to Halloween!
October 29th, 2012 by Mr. C
(All photos by Mr. C except for Sheraton Hotel & “It’s Chiller Time!”.)
(Chiller Theatre Expo was moved to the Sheraton Parsippany this year. We loved the medieval architecture of the hotel!)
(We thought the event was a pretty big success even though the NY Jets lost again that weekend!)
But before we begin this photo blog of undead and trashy proportions, I would like to summarize the event with a few words of un-poetic like grace. Here we go…may you R.I.P.
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Twas the weekend before Halloween when all through Chiller Theatre. Not a single human was stirring, not even their spouse;
Vampires, goblins, predators, & a zombie Ronald Mcdonald hung putrified body parts with care,
In hopes that Zacherly the Cool Ghoul would notice them there;We saw Hulk Hogan, the Mummy, Grim Reaper, & Nosferatu all snug in their creepy pose. They all looked like they had no pulse, hey – they could of been dead!
While visions of blood and Elvira danced in their head, hell we all knew all they wanted to do was to take her to bed!
And Jessica the Rabbit with her killer cleavage, and I in my aroused state,
Had just settled down, but wait that’s Mary Antoinette with her piece of cake?When out at the ballroom there arose such a tatter,
I sprang like Jackie Chan to see what was the matter.
Oh, we saw Tom Wopat, Joan Collins, & Bai Ling with her cute little accent thing.
Wow, my teenage crush on Samantha Fox blew me out of my socks as she singed?!
Away to the other rooms, I fled like Flash Gordon;
I saw the dude from The Warriors, the lady from Suspiria, and then I started to dream of Virginia Madsen;Chiller Theatre has always been a mixed bag filled with horror goodies, pop culture, & hollywood has beens.
The attendees all looked like they came straight out of a comic book and have committed lots of sins!
But the night was young and the obituary list was full,
so we were treated with a serenade of monster mash by Zacherly the cool ghoul!
Next came the Dead Elvi with surprise guest – killer keyboardist – Keith Emerson,
Following that was a tremendous performance on the vocals by Bebe Buell coupled with the possessed demonic guitar play of Cheetah Chrome from the Dead Boys – damn, he brought the noise!
For that was the highlight but the lowlight would appear,
Bai Ling came out to sing and she didn’t really care.
Up on deck was Taryn Manning from Sons of Anarchy as she took the mic,
she attempted to sing Beast of Burden which put a burden in our hearts for the rest of our life.
It was only a start as Smells like Teen spirit would arise from the dead,
She actually had a great stage presence and a killer bod is what I said!But all fun nights must come to an end. Chiller Theatre was a blast and the spring time version of the undead expo is just around the bend!
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(The VHS Preservation Society vendor always gets us. I bought a copy of China O’Brien, No Retreat No Surrender, Destroyer (Lyle Alzado), Raw Force aka Kung Fu Cannibals, & Tanya’s Island. Chocko had his own list of trashy titles that I’m sure he will share later!)
(Zacherly the cool ghoul– the host of the original Chiller Theatre on TV)
(Stephania Cassini starred in Dario Argento’s Suspiria)
(Bai Ling in the lobby of the hotel)
(Virginia Madsen)
(Joan Collins)
(Bebe Buell signing my copy of her Hard Love album – go get it!)
(Mary Antoinette and her cake was one of the winners of the costume contest!)
(The CyberAngels was one of the winners of the costume contest as well.)
(Go Ape Billy with their collection of movie props)
(Popetine and Darth Maul Ghoul was also one of the costume winners of the night!)
Tags: chiller theatre, costumes, horror, music, toy film expo
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Regressives + Cigarette Crossfire + Zoobombs played ABC No Rio
October 26th, 2012 by chocko
Regressives (featuring Joe, Brendan and Aron formerly of Stockyard Stoics and Early Gates of The Ray Gradys on drums), headlined a last minute show at ABC No Rio last Friday night. The band teased the small, intimate crowd with a snippet of a Stockyard Stoics (“City Lights”) song during soundcheck, but the set was dedicated to new songs. Lead singer, Joe took the time to introduce himself and shake everybody’s hand in the audience early in the high energy set which didn’t stray too far from the Stockyard punk sound and songs of revolution. There was even one about animals titled “Wildlife in America.” These guys are an awesome band to check out live. I hope they’re planning to put out some records!
Rising from the ashes of punk bands Life Giving Waters and Buried At Last, comes Cigarette Crossfire from Helsinki, Finland! They were also on the bill banging out some melodic punk tunes including an untitled track off their new limited edition tour 7″ which had no labeling or artwork. Their angry political songs with lead singer Jere’s gravelly vocals will get you pumped up and moving in the pit in no time. This show in the Lower East Side of NYC marked Cigarette Crossfire’s first show in a string of East Coast dates which conclude at the end of October in Florida for The Fest. I picked up their latest album, In Between The Cure And The Disease which features 10 songs recorded in 5 days back in 2011. I also picked up their purple tour 7″ and a single from 2010 which features 3 heavy tracks and killer art work by Maarten De With based out of Antwerp.
The psychedelic samurai rock and funk volcanic eruption that is Zoobombs opened up the night with an energetic set. This Tokyo band has opened up for The Flaming Lips and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and have been kicking out the jams and blowing minds and eardrums since 1994. They describe their music as “Psychedelicdonutsrock or Punkfloyd.” As soon as the band plugged in and cranked up the amps, Zoobombs played like a band possessed with the charismatic DON Matsuo on vocals and guitar leading the fray. The rest of the lineup features Pitt on drums, Moostop on bass and Matta on keyboards who also handles the band’s art work including the Zoobomb’s mascot Kumaku a cartoon bear and president of Zbon-Sya. After their set I picked up their 10th album The Sweet Passion. Good stuff! Be sure to check out Zoobombs music and follow their wacky touring adventures on their various blogs.
REGRESSIVES + CIGARETTE CROSSFIRE + ZOOBOMBS at ABC NO RIO
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Tags: abc no rio, cigarette crossfire, regressives, zoobombs
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The Zen of Bennett
October 25th, 2012 by Mr. C
(Tony Bennett at IFC Theater on 10/24/12 to introduce the film – photo by mr c)
The documentary, The Zen of Bennett takes us on a behind the scenes look at Tony Bennett and what makes this legend tick even up to his gingerly age of 85 years young. From the onset of the film, Bennett preaches what he practices – that everything about yourself – your aura, your looks, your every move, your work should be about quality. No time should be wasted or vacated by anything less than being your best. So there begins the pace that the legendary singer sets as we follow him to various studios (NJ,London,Italy) for a recording session with some well known and talented musicians/vocalist in their own right including Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Natalie Cole, John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Michael Buble, Carrie Underwood, and legends like Willie Nelson, Andrea Boccelli, and Aretha Franklin. We get to see the amazing interaction between Bennett and the current artists of today – how he nurtures, compliments, and basically passes the torch from a lion like himself to the young pride! You would imagine Bennett and Aretha Franklin’s duet performance would of been the most explosive in terms of energy but it seemed like the Bennett – Lady Gaga combination was pretty darn earth shattering! It was also great to see Tony work his gentle demeanor and playfulness with Michael Buble and Amy Winehouse to ease the anxiety pains in the studio. It was very touching to see how Bennett was truly concerned for Winehouse and her battle with the demons. You can catch Tony’s Zen like magic (not in a religious way) as he coddles Amy Winehouse to make her feel more comfortable with her fidgety self in the recording session. Winehouse and Bennett teamed up for a smoky, down and dirty version of “Body and Soul”. Unfortunately thereafter, the tragic death of Amy would cause a ripple of sadness within Bennett.
Not everything is all peaches and cream & Zen like with Tony as we see some examples of being stubborn and cranky at times but hell – who’s perfect? Michael Buble’s interview with the media causes concern for Bennett as he misinterprets the message as being old. Another incident in Italy at Andrea Boccelli’s home/studio will question someones work ethic. Don’t even talk about rearranging the tempo and flow of the songs!
We also had the privilege to see the singing legend’s other passion – drawing and painting! It was fun watching Tony do a quick sketch of Willie Nelson in the studio. The Zen of Bennett, not to be confused with the religious aspects of Buddhism portrayed a quiet, compassionate, and tender side of our subject as he kept all things classy! I can easily see how this man remains young at heart, humble, & successful. It’s all because of family dynamics and the tight bond between them.
Tony Bennett fan or not, The Zen of Bennett will give you a different perspective with living/appreciating life to the fullest and will perhaps touch your tender button. At the very least it will bring the sexy back to wearing ties and with making sure that those shoes get polished correctly!
The Zen of Bennett continues to screen at IFC Theaters in NYC until 10/30!
Those that are fiending for Tony Bennett and the above mentioned artists & others collaborate, do yourself some justice and buy the DUETS II album!
(Tony Bennett and son – Danny Bennett)
Tags: documentary, ifc, tony bennett
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Marco Polo Festival in Little Italy/Chinatown New York City!
October 22nd, 2012 by Mr. C
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The Marco Polo Festival in NYC celebrated the harmonious co-existence of the Italian & Chinese communities in the Little Italy and Chinatown sections of Manhattan for over 100 years now! Outdoor cultural performances throughout the day lined the Hester Street stage located between Mott & Mulberry streets. Performances included traditional chinese opera (Chinese Opera Society), Italian tarantella folk drumming and dance, chinese folk music, traditional and modern chinese dance routines (NY Chinese Cultural Center), and classical/modern violin by the amazing Corin Lee! The 4th Annual Marco Polo Festival was sponsored by the Two Bridges Neighborhood council led by Victor Papa. The emcee of the event was John Leo, a representative from Con Edison and a former Director of Outreach/Relations at the Chinatown Partnership Development. Leo also provided excellent and comedic chinese (cantonese) translations for the chinese audience in attendance but John…stay away from the singing…please! It was such a beautiful day to celebrate Italian and Chinese cultures in the Big Apple! Thank you to the Two Bridges Neighborhood council for organizing such an event to bring people together to acknowledge & show appreciation for the rich and dynamic heritage of our communities!
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(Victor Papa – organizer of the festival – President of Two Bridges Neighborhood Council)
(John Leo – host of the Marco Polo Festival)
(Red Mike Festival Band)
(Chinese Opera singing)
(Chinese Folk music)
(Tarantella drum and dance)
(NY Cultural Center-Chinese & Mongolian traditional with modern dance techniques)
(Corin Lee -Violinist phenom)
Tags: chinese, culture, italian, marco polo festival, new york
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More New York Comic Con Cosplay 2012
October 18th, 2012 by chocko
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Tags: comic books, cosplay, fanboys, fangirls, movies, new york comic con, nycc
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New York Comic Con cosplay
October 16th, 2012 by Mr. C
The New York Comic Con came in on a quiet tip like Mary had a little lamb on preview night Thursday and went out with a bang like Dwight & Marv from Sin City! In between that was filled with a fun performance by Ben Folds Five, a band that I haven’t thought about since the late 90s and two panels that we attended which had the common denominator of being represented by musicians. Kirk Hammett (Metallica) was on hand for a discussison about his new book ‘Too Much Horror Business’ & obsession with collecting Horror memorabilia! The other panel was a very fun & informative panel: Hip Hop and Comics – combining cultures! Guests included Adam “Illus” Wallenta, Darryl DMC McDaniels, Eric Orr, Jean Grae, Johnny “Juice” Rosado, Kagan McLeod, Patrick A. Reed, Pete Rock, Ron Wilson, & Ronald Wimberly. Each guest talked about the meshing of Hip Hop culture with comics! We will provide more photos and information on these two panels that we attended later.
The real rock stars that made the comic con fun was the attendees who were adorned in their cosplay outfits! Most of the costumes we witnessed were amazing as well as the people & personalities behind the them! Enjoy, y’all!
Tags: cosplay, new york comic con
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Tinkertown Museum
October 11th, 2012 by chocko
On a recent journey to New Mexico, a definite highlight was a visit to Tinkertown Museum located on the Turquoise Trail in Sandia Park just 20 minutes from Albuquerque. Tinkertown features the amazing life work of the late folk artist Ross J. Ward. His wood-carved figures, animated miniature displays and impressive collection of circus and western memorabilia will take you back in time. The 22 room roadside attraction features walls made out of 50,000 bottles and if you explore it’s winding hallways, you will discover some of the residents such as Esmerelda the Fortune Teller and Otto the One-Man-Band. For a quarter, you can have your fortune told or be entertained with an old timey tune. The artist’s workshop can also be seen within the museums walls where countless hours must have been spent mastering his craft. Tinkertown is also home to a 35 foot antique wooden sailboat which went on a ten year voyage around the world. It was a real pleasure to chat with the friendly staff and especially to meet Carla Ward, Ross’ wife who continues to operate their museum which is a true testimony to an artist’s boundless creativity and imagination. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to stop by. Happy Trails!
“If you can dream it, you can build it and Tinkertown is my proof”
~ Ross J. Ward
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many people need it sorely. Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one’s little corner of Earth.” ~ Mark Twain
Tags: albuquerque, folk art, ross j ward, santa fe, tinkertown museum, turquoise trail
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Suzanne Vega at City Winery
October 10th, 2012 by Mr. C
One of NYC’s most underrated folk/pop singer/songwriters of our time- Suzanne Vega two stepped into the City Winery on Tuesday night for two performances to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of her most well known album – Solitude Standing. Vega’s vocals can be described as being gentle & soft, yet firm and clear to the bone. Some might even describe her voice as being monotone and boring but those who say that don’t truly understand the mood & artistic expression that she is trying to relay through by the use of her colorful palette amongst the words, metaphors, melody, & rhythm in order to paint a picture of her stories.
Suzanne Vega, an urban poet with clever uses of linguistics is not afraid to tackle topics like child abuse (Luka) or depression (Night Vision). She displays a side of humor and whim with Tom’s Diner and is not scared to show her softer side with a tribute to her love who moved back to England with the tune Gypsy. Another great song – Ironbound expresses her views on being bound and chained in the urban environment. Vega celebrated the Solitude Standing album by playing it in it’s entirety in the same order as released on the album. My favorite performances of the night included Tom’s Diner in the jazzy-funky arrangement, Queen and the Soldier, Solitude Standing, Gypsy, and Left of Center (Soundtrack from Pretty in Pink).
Some funny stories that Suzanne told that night included when the artist formerly known as Prince came to checkout her performance in the 1980’s at a club called 1st Avenue in Minnesota. Prince danced & pranced around to Luka which was the 4th song that she played that night and then Prince left the scene after Luka. Prince had asked later on if Vega wanted a private tour of his mansion!
Another story had Lenny Kaye (former guitarist of Patti Smith) and producer of Vega’s 1st two albums, trying to push Suzanne into finishing the writing for the Solitude Standing album in which he offered to write lyrics to some of the songs. Suzanne mentioned the lyrics he wrote were so bad, it motivated her to finish composing the album!
It was also very cool to hear SV belt out a song of her’s from the Breakfast Club soundtrack – Left of Center and another soundtrack (Tombstone) that she worked on in Eddie Murphy’s movie Haunted Mansion! These 2 tracks were some of the most fun and upbeat of the night!
Stephany Winters added a nice dimension to the sound with the cello and it was very cool to see/hear Hollywood actress Jil Hennessy providing backup vocals with one of the tunes! The guitar player was phenomenal turning it out on the remix of Tom’s Diner with some ambient and funky sounds coming out of his geeTar!
Big thanks to Jersey JoelNJdev for scoring some tickets to this celebration & benefit concert!
Set List
Tom’s Diner (acapella)
Luka
Ironbound
In the Eye
Night vision
Solitude Standing
Calypso
Language
Gypsy
Wooden Horse
Tom’s Diner (jazzy-funky remix)
Marlene on the wall
Left of Center (Breakfast Club)
Tombstone (Sound track from Eddie Murphy’s Haunted Mansion)
Blood Makes Noise
Some Journey
encore
Queen and the soldier
Rosemary
Tags: city winery, folk, suzanne vega
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10th annual Open House New York
October 9th, 2012 by Mr. C
Last Sat/Sun was the 10th annual Open House New York event! OHNY weekend is a time when NYC including the 5 boroughs opens up access to historic buildings, architecture and design, walks and talks of history in the city, and just to celebrate NYC culture in general! From private residences and historic landmarks to rooftop farms and sustainable skyscrapers, OHNY is a time to enjoy & reflect on what a great city and resource the big apple truly is! And the best thing of all, most of the events are FREE! There are some programs that require reservations and cost $5 per person.
On Saturday, I was able to attend 3 open house NY events. The 1st was a walk through Chelsea to rediscover old NYC and the fading ads that silently adorn to the buildings as people passby without ever noticing them. The handpainted signs/ads that cling onto these old buildings tell a great story on the history of our city! Photographer, author, and NYC Historian – Frank Jump led the talks and walks with much enthusiasm & knowledge! Checkout Frank’s book & blog called ‘Fading Ads of New York City‘. He seems to have a great passion in unearthing the New York of yesteryear by discovering and examining old signs and the businesses they were representing.
The 2nd OHNY stop I made was located at a street or alley I should say that I passby literally thousands of times enroute to chinatown. The destination was a freight elevator on Cortlandt Alley off of Canal Street. This former elevator shaft-way is now home to NYC’s smallest museum which contains 150 artifacts of overlooked humanism and treasure from the streets of the world. The museum is FREE and made possible by the support of Kate, Andy and Bea Spade.
The last stop I made was located in a chinatown loft in a building dating back to the 1920s. It was a former tenement home which is now privately owned. This loft on Forsyth Street was converted from a 3 bedroom apartment to a sun-drenched 750 sq. ft apartment with the space utilized in the most ingenious of ways. The exposed brick and the retro wallpaper seemed to be a nice blend of the old with the modern. The resident and architect of the apartment was gracious enough to share his loft with the public and provide a personal tour as well.
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(The enthusiastic Frank Jump leading the talks & the walks on Fading ads in NYC! He takes us to a few signage gems in the Chelsea/Flatiron area.)
(Miss Weber’s Millinery Shop on 48 W.22nd Street)
(Phillip Morris – America’s Finest Cigarette)
(Griffin Shears – nailfiles*Tweezers*nippers*manicure sets)
(A. Steinhardt & Bros. – 860 Broadway)
(Crown Coat Fronts by Union Square)
(An example of when a building uses handpainted signage for each floor of the building)
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Museum
Cortlandt Alley between White & Franklin Streets
NY, NY
(Cortlandt Alley)
(The Museum in the elevator shaft is the actually storefront!)
(Some interesting artifacts from around the world)
(The dominatrix elixir!)
(The shoe thrown at President Bush)
(old nyc weapons of mass destruction?)
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(A tour of a loft in Chinatown – Forsyth Street – a former tenement building)
Tags: open house new york, photos, travel
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Asbury Park zombie walk
October 8th, 2012 by Mr. C
My office space co-worker shared a few photos that he took from the 5th Annual Asbury Park Zombie Walk last Saturday! Thanks J-Strongbow! The Zombie Walk is a peaceful? gathering & rising of the undead to wreak havoc on the city of living namely Asbury Park!
(Superheroes can get infected too!)
(Sherlock Holmes?)
(Till death do us part…)
Tags: asbury park zombie walk, cosplay
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Kama Sutra & the art of knit — sock it to me!
October 7th, 2012 by Mr. C
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I went strolling down Crosby Street – south of Houston, a cobblestone street that we normally haunt for two reasons,Housing Works bookstore & cafe and Lahore Deli, a hole in the wall NYC taxi cab driver favorite for cheap Indian eats which is open 24 hours a day!
While doing my street tour of duty, I noticed that the taxi cab mechanic garage located across the street from Lahore Deli & next to the gas station had been closed down & replaced by a Benetton pop up shop with one of its garage doors propped open for business! While most of us don’t give a hoot about the United Colors of preppieness, I noticed a really neat looking display of man/woman sized knit dolls covered in wool performing various poses of passionate embrace! It turns out that these installations, dubbed ‘Lana Sutra‘ were created by cuban artist, Erik Ravelo. As per Benetton, the art pieces embody the idea of colour and of a woollen thread linking all humankind. The knit display also pays homage to love and is dedicated to the desire for an equal and sharing society. Benetton is making the preppy, sexy?!
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Benetton Pop-up Shop (from 9/6-12/01/12)
135 Crosby Street
SoHo – New York NY 10012
Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe
126 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
Lahore Deli (Open 24 hours)
132 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
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