Formula 1 Synergy
The Formula 100 is a new boys club started to basically connect people in a way never done before. Well, I say never done. What I mean is never done in such open circumstances before.
Whereas business is rumored to be done on a country club golf course or luxury box of a sporting event, the Formula 100 is a similar closed door group. Firstly around 250 of the worlds biggest companies are invested in F1 in one way or another. But the issue is that if the sponsors of one team are even thought of to be talking to another team it could land people in serious hot water.
Say the director of company A sponsors team A. But he used to go to university with the manager of say team B. They happen to bump into each other staying at a hotel for the Grand Prix the next day and share a whiskey. A photographer snaps this and suddenly the director has a lot of explain to do to team A. Also the manager of team B has to explain to his sponsors why he was seen with the director of team A’s sponsors. Were they striking up a deal behind their backs?.
When you consider how intertwined the business world is and how often these people get together each year these situations arise quite frequently. But the silly thing about it is that the F1 paddock is the perfect opportunity to create new friendship and business deals. It’s like taking someone to a strip club and photographing them every time they go near a stripper, then showing it to their wife.
So a guy called Chris Sylt along with a couple of other powerful business people decided to create a club, where you could go to the strip club and talk to as many strippers as you wanted without ever being in fear of the wife seeing. this is the Formula 100 club.
They advise each other on strippers, ways round telling the wife, questions they have about strippers, and even ways to make the most of their stripper money. But this is not the main draw to the Formula 100 club. It is essentially an age old business trick. The Formula 100 club is basically a meeting place for non F1 deals. It gives some of the biggest companies in the world a face to face meeting with competitors and future partners. For instance.
Etihad Airways based out of Dubai sponsors Ferrari. Sheikh Hamed their chairman signs up to the Formula 100 club. The Sheikh goes to the clubs meeting and is put in touch with a guy from a company called Medion AG. Who just happens to spend millions a year sponsoring Force India. What’s so important about that? Well Etihad does luxury seating on their planes and all the seats have built in TVs. Medion just happen to make those exact TVs. They also happen to make compact refrigeration which by the way would be perfect for storing all the food and drink on the planes. They arrange another face to face meeting in a couple of weeks as the Etihad chairman is always bitching about the cost of the TV on his planes.
While the Sheikh is there he also mingles round and has a chat to the chairman of Certina, a Swiss based watch company who sponsor Suaber F1. But these aren’t just any watches. These are some of the finest watches in the world. No better product would go nicely in the onboard duty free magazine for one of the richest airlines in the world. They agree there and then to meet the following day with a range of watches and prices and potential sales figures.
So he is rather happy with himself he could have made 2 deals in one evening. But no wait there’s more, as the Sheikh orders another drink he is introduced to Chairman Franz Humer. Who is there on behalf of Diageo the owners of Johnnie Walker Whiskey, the sponsors of McLaren. Mr Humer informs the Sheikh he has been waiting all evening to bend his ear about something. He makes a quick but tasty offer to the Sheikh to supply his first class lounges and his planes with cheap soft drinks and alcohol. He is willing to undercut his current suppliers. The Sheikh has never heard of Diageo and wants to know some of his brands. This is one of the worlds most luxury airlines, only the best shall grace its menus. SO Mr Humer informs him he can supply the following brands which he owns:
Smirnoff, Gordon’s Gin, Captain Morgan, Bulleit Bourbon (Note from Brucie Thoughts. Bulleit is my all-time favourite whiskey….. love it ) Johnnie Walker, Buchanan’s, Cardhu, Justerini & Brooks, a further 13 whiskeys, Guinness, Red Stripe, Kaliber, Archers, Pimms and 24 different wine brands.
The Sheikh leaves the Formula 100 meeting happy he has met and discussed with the chairman of 3 different companies the possibility of a business deal. It didn’t need millions spent on entertaining clients and bribing low level directors. All it needed was a handshake and introduction for the bigwigs of 2 companies that have something to offer each other.
That is the main draw of the Formula 100. What’s in it for the f1 teams I hear you say? Well to get into the Formula 100 you have to sponsor an F1 millions a year. Increased revenue for the sport and the teams and Bernie Ecclestone don’t get his greasy mitts on it.
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Tags: bernie eccelstone, diageo, etihad, f1. formula. formula 1, ferrari, formula 100, johnnie walker, mclaren, medion, swatch
New Blog!!
So I opened a new blog. But I am not shutting this one. The ide aof the new blog is to put cool stuff I find on the net. This one is for my thoughts, opinions and articles I fancy writing. Give the new blog a look!
http://isftw.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/the-nice-side-of-dragons-den/
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Tags: blog, isfw, new blog, youtube
Following on from Part 1!
10 – Supreme NTM
Favourite Song: Pose Ton Gun
The Supreme NTM are held in either fandom or disgust in France. I am in that fandom. From Saint-Denis in Paris one of the most deprived areas of Western Europe, they prey on the social unrest and agression towards the top. Just like every other rapper going. Except these guys are different. They actually are crazy. Their concerts have set off riots. Noteably the unrest caused by one of their concerts in the 90s spread across the whole country and led to rioting in 12 different cities.
For years on end the police banned any legal concerts from taking palce and would surround and fight the illegal ones.
Of all of these superb artists, I doubt I will ever see the Supreme NTM. Not because they are in France but because the 2 rappers dislike each other, and Joey Starr, well, can’t stop being a crazy mofo. Last year he got sent to prison for getting in a fight, and as his oppoents were trying to leave he climbed on their car and started trying to get at them through the windscreen with an axe.
If they can stay out of prison and stand in the same room as each other I am there!
Just as a side note. How cool does this look?
9 – Metallica
Favourite Song: Nothing Else Matters
This is another VH1/MTV band. I also liked their theme tune to Mission IMpossible. Often slated by metal fans for being too commercial, I think this is a good thing. It appeals to those who might normally ignore metal and provides a door into metal.
I lived in a house with 4 big metal fans at uni and they all liked Metallica so it was natural for me to grow to lvoe them.
8 – Meatloaf
Favourite Song: Paradise By The Dashboard Light
My dad was always a fan and I liked the song ‘Bat Out Of Hell’. So one christmas he got me Meat Loafs autobiography and it was a fascinating read. So I listened to a few more of his CD’s and his voice was what amazed me. I believe he has since lost some of it but is still a must see.
The below song has a fantastic story!
7 – CSNY
Favourite Song: Ohio
This is another accidental discovery. I was watching a film, something like Forrest Gump. When I heard a song so I googled it and ended up spending hours on youtube watching their music videos. They are still touring and are on the lsit so high up due to their age.
6 – Simon & Garfunkel
Favourite Song: Kathy’s Song
I think these guys are probably my mums favourite band ever. They are also a very hot and cold duo with each other, so I am not sure fi they will ever come to the UK again. But if they do I am going to be there. I got into these guys during my A-Levels and we had to study the film ‘The Graduate’. I was surprised to find I already knew most of the words. Thanks mum.
5 – Eric Clapton
Favourite Song: Layla (Accoustic)
One of the all time greats, it is tough to find someone who doesn’t like his songs. AN old pro he is still touring but due to the sheer amount of his songs I love I have had to put him high up on the list. I have heard he might be doing Glastonbury next year. Fingers crossed.
4 – Oasis
Favourite Song: Live Forever
Oasis were my first music obsession. These were the band that really got me into music with their singalong songs and general attitude. It was also the fact that it wasn’t one of my parents bands. It was a band I liked! The first song I ever heard was Live Forever and it is still my favourite. I held off going tos ee them in Wembley last year, I jsut hope I don’t live to regret it.
3 – Paul McCartney
Favourite Song: Maybe I’m Amazed
I am a massive Beatles fan. Not as in I’ll paint them or bid on ebay for a lock of their hair. But I have learnt some of their songs on instruments and have a number of CD’s. In fact I own some Vinyls from the 60′s I bought a while ago as an investment. I am not a massive fan of McCartney’s solo work though I do know he bangs out the old singalong BEatles songs at his gigs 
An interesting fact is that the first songs I ever learnt to sing were Beatles songs. When my dad and I started singing along to ‘All You Need Is Love’ in the car we were both shocked to find I already knew the words! But I was about 8!! Turns out I knew the words to over 10 songs. How the hell did I know all the words to the Beatles songs when I had never listened to a CD or knowingly heard them?
The next day in school it dawned on me. My old headmistress was a hippy and every single song sung in assembly from the infants through to the juniors was a Beatles song. My favourite Beatles song is ‘Yellow Submarine’. And it has been since I was 5.
(Had to go for a PMC song ehre though)
2 – Billy Joel
Favourite Song: Downeaster Alexa
ANother dad influence. Cannot deny this guy has skills. I think this is the old man’s favourite solo artist ever and subsequently one of my favourites. I love songs that tell a story and most of his do. The choice of favourite song was hard. But I ahd to move with perhaps the most moving. The story behind it so I hear is this:
Billy Joel grew up with a mooring on the property and a lobsterman would often use it overnight and leave his parents a bucket of lobsters as thanks. One night there was a deadly storm and the lobsterman was never seen again.
1 – Elton John
Favourite Song: Your Song
Though he is not my favourite artist, Elton John had double the amount of songs I like than anyone else on this list. The longevity and sheer talent of the man propels him to number 1. He doesn’t do too many gigs so I am really gunning for this one.
Bonus Video
Number 1 & 2 playing Piano Man together. Epic sheer epic!!!!
If you get bored scroll to
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Tags: beatles, billy joel, CSNY. ohio, downeaster alexa, elton john, eric clapton, joey starr, kathy's song, layla, live forever, maybe I'm amazed, meat loaf, meatloaf, metallica. nothing else matters, ntm, oasis, paradise by the dashboard light, paul mccartney, pose ton Gun, simon & garfunkel, simon and garfunkel, supreme ntm, your song
Ok well I have always had this list of artists to see before I or more importantly they die. In the past couple of years I have ticked off 3 as seen and 1 as died.
The one that died was Michael Jackson and ironically I ahd tickets to 2 of his London shows. The 3 I have seen were Stevie Wonder at Glastonbury, The Prodigy in Milton Keynes and The Levellers at Beautiful Days.
This means the list needed to be reshuffled, but there must be an order! What if I was to go to festival and find 2 of my lsit on at the same time? Well there needs to be an order. I have judged each act on 3 categories. How many of their songs I like, how old they are (the older the are the more important it is to see them) and how likely they are to play in the UK.
20 – Radiohead
Favourite Song: Karma Police
Go into these through the the NOW albums of the 90s. Managed to sleep through their guest appearance at Glastonbury this year. Gutted. Here’s the video of what I missed.
19 – The Coral
Favourite Song – Dreaming Of You
Can’t exactly place when I got into these guys but it was only recently. I had a crush on a girl and this song reminded me frequently of her. Listening to their other stuff I realised what an underrated band they are. Hopefully they should be touring down south soon.
18 – Dire Straits
Favourite Song: Sultans Of Swing
Another of my mother’s influences. She was a big Dire Straits fan and I had heard most of their songs and learn the words before really knowing who they were. I remember in school I had to make a music video for a project. I made sure I fit in some Sultans of Swing.
17 – Madness
Favourite Song: One Step Beyond
For me music should either be fun or emotonal. Madness sums up everything fun about music. If it’s from the ska based tunes to the amusing lyrics about buying condoms.
I first listened to them on my mums CD’s and liked them. But when I was 12, I went round my friends house and his dad got out his Madness Vinyl and put it on his booming sound system and turned up the volume to max. He played One Step Beyond, and we danced round the living like it was going out of fashion. Since then I have been a huge fan.
In the video below take a look at 0:53 seconds and tell me that doesn’t bring a smile to your face.
16 – The Offspring
Favourite Song: Self Esteem
I was about 13 when in class I got handed a cassette tape by this kid named Shane and written on it was “The Offspring”. I knew the name already as they had a hit with ‘Pretty Fly For A White Guy’. Turns out it was a mix tape of their better stuff from previous albums.
As I got older more of their songs become apparent and relatable. Especially the one below:
15 – Fleetwood Mac
Favourite Song: The Chain
For years I heard their songs around before geting into them. I cannot deny that the first time I heard The Chain in full length I was surprised that halfway through it turned into a song I knew!! To most people it is still known as the Formula 1 song. Many classics for this love torn band.
14 – R.E.M
Favourite Song: Shiny Happy People
So many of their songs are played over and over on VH1 it is hard NOT to become a R.E.M fan. They tend to be a bit of a Marmite band. You either love them or hate them. I personally like them, if you take away all their political crap. The songs are timeless and I only last night I had a dream about them playing at Glastonbury in 2011.
13 – Alpha Blondy
Favourite Song: Jerusalem
A near unknown outside the French speaking world. I found him when I was actually searching YouTube for a video of the famous Edward Elgar song of the same name.
Alpha Blondy has done more for peace through reggae than Bob Marley ever did. He performs in many languages and promotes genuine peace wherever he goes. He is a UN ambassador and just a superb musician. The song below is about peace in Jerusalem. It contains 4 different languages. English, French, Arabic and Hebrew.
The intro is long but stick with it
12 – Pink Floyd
Favourite Song: Wish You Were Here
On holiday in Italy in the year 2000 I made friends with these random people all on holiday with their families. A few of them were Pink Flloyd fans and every ngiht they’d raid the juke box and play all the Pink Flloyd songs. For years my favourite was ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ but more recently another song struck a chord with me.
11 – Bob Dylan
Favourite Song: Times Times They A-Changing
Weirdly enough I only really started listening to Bob Dylan at university. It is a bit of a travesty really but he was another artist where I knew the words to most of his famous songs before knowing it was him that had sung them.
Special Mention – Macc Lads
Favourite Song: Charlotte
Even if they got back together I doubt I would go to a Macc Lads gig. The filth that goes on there and the bottles of urine thrown on stage and back at the crowd is just not a palce I’d go. But as a bonus band…… I would consider it.
The below song is amazing. Disgusting but so so catchy!
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Tags: a-changing, alpha blondy, bob dylan, charlotte, dire straits, dreaming of you, fleetwood mac, glastonbury, jerusalem, karma police, macc lads, madness, offspring, one step beyond, pink flloyd, r.e.m., radiohead, rem, self esteem, shiney happy people, shiny happy people, song, sultans of swing, the chain, the coral, the offspring, times are a changing, top 20, wish you were here
My Top 50 Films Ever
Yes that’s right I have decided to do one of those lists. As a rather big film fan with over 300 DVD’s I feel that I may be in a view to do a top 50 list. I would do a top 100 but I just haven’t seen enough pre 1970 films to be able to justify 100.
I have chosen 10 categories to judge them and all but 1 of them is my opinion. So I hope to get a true gist of my all time top 50 films. Now you will have to bear with me as it is going to take some time to list and judge them. But what I do know is that I shall release them a handful at a time.
Thats right. Like they do on the big TV shows!
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Tags: films, judge, movies, top 100, top 50
No More Anchovies!
I ordered a pizza last week. I selected the meat feast as normal and went to customize. But oh no! Something here is wrong! NO ANCHOVIES!!! What the fuck! Anchovies are an integral part of any pizza. Not a maybe maybe ingredient! Integral!!!
I even phoned them and they said they didn’t know why but they aren’t putting them on Pizzas anymore. Seriously, if I were rich I’d sue Dominos for further destroying the good name of pizza.
Thing is they should be championing these tiny fish. Pizzas are notoriously bad for your wasteline but yet anchovies have 0 calories in them. Thats right 0! They are full of good shit. Admittedly they are salty but that only makes you drink more water. Which in turn results in you being very hydrated.
I didn’t cry but I got mad. I went out and bought anchovies to put on my pizza. It just werent the same.
:’(
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Tags: anchovies, death, dominos, online, pizza
Olympics Mascots
A couple of months ago we said hello to Wenlock and Mandeville.
These 2 happy chappies are the London 2012 Olympic mascots. They seem to have divided people worse than Marmite. Some love them. I know I do. Others hate them and say they are a waste of money. But then most of mascots are hated.
Wenlock is named after the town in Shropshire that hosted the for runner to the first olympics. Mandeville is after Stoke Mandeville that hosted the first paralympics. Now I am not going to go into how much they cost or whatever, so I am going to let you decide for yourself.
Here is the video that introduced them to us:
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Tags: 2012, london, mandeville, olympic mascots, olympics, steel, wenlock
Some Spooky Russian Place
There is a fortress in Russia where during the cold war they tested their upgraded equivelent of Napalm. They would take it underground into the tunnels and explode it to conduct experiments ranging from the distance travelled to it’s effect on buildings, noteably bricks. Which is why they put it in the fortress. So it could be contained and measured.
As you can see the photo below it has melted everything in sight. The heat was so fast and so intense that the bricks didn’t even have to time to break before they were liquified. But they resolidified just as fast as the heast discipated. I looked up what could have done this and the answer seems to be a thermobaric bomb.
A thermobaric bomb is a scary thing. It is specifically designed to cause mroe damage and loss of life than a normal bomb. The reason for this is that they combine petrol with the explosives. They are specifically useful in either open areas, tunnels and buildings. Explosives have a blast area and it spreads until it fizzles which normally is a small but devestating area. Thermobaric bombs horde oxegen. They spread fast and maintin the heat and explosive power until it can spread no further before burning itself outside. It spreads like petrol but burns like explosives. When used underground in tunnels it can fill a whole complex before burning out.
The brick icicles are caused by the pressure change after the explosion. The bomb sucks out all the air and causes a vacum. The melting bricks are then sucked towards the centre of the explosion causing the long strands you see in the pictures. In buildings this will collapse it. In a tunnel it incincerates everything.
The Russians tested the pinnacle of their thermobaric bombs in 2007. 1 bomb levelled 3 massive multi story apartment block and turned them into dust. The worrying thing is that we Brits cannot take the high ground. We have been using them in Afghanistan since the begginging of the war. Just on a smaller scale.
I am just glad that photos of the results of thes ebombs haven’t been released. I’ll leave you with one final though. This shit is worse than napalm. In the Vietnam war napalm caused this iconic photo. Imagine what a large thermobaric bomb would do
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Tags: brick icicle, bricks, melting, napalm, russia, russian, weapons
Why Do Engines Purr?
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day at a party about cars. Nothing unusual there. Until we got onto the subject of engines purring. You know the scene some car enthusiasts are standing next to a beautiful car and one of them goes: “Wow listen to that baby purr!”. Everyone agreed.
It then occurred to us that the power of an engine is measured in horse power. Now for those of you who are unsure what this means James Watt (yes that guy), came up with a system of measuring how much coal a horse could move in a minute. To cut out a load of boring shite, 1 HP (horsepower) is the equivalent to 746 watts. So if a car engine can generate 7460 watts, then it is worth 10HP. And so on.
But the point I was trying to make is that is car engines are measured in horse powers why does it purr? It should Neighing.
“Holy shit dude that engines awesome. Just listen to it neighing.”
You know what? from now on I am using that instead. Every time someone asks me why I say that I shall explain. Engines neigh NOT purr!
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Tags: engine, horse, horse power, hp, kitten, neigh, purr
My Letter To Glastonbury
Dear Emily,
I went to my first Glastonbury this year and as a festival virgin I thought I would write you a letter and give you my honest undiluted opinion on things.
We arrived Tuesday night and was impressed to see that it was ready for us and directed to a spot. We were in E12. Though not 1 of the stewards nearby knew where there were toilets. Not one of them. But in the spirit of things they let us use the stewards ones. Considering the queues we were through the gate quite quickly. The staff were really friendly and they checked my photo and banded me up very quickly. We ended up pitching at the top of Kidney Mead. Now this is where I have my first gripe of the festival.
I purchased 5 small ice creams. It cost me £15. Now I am not a complete idiot and know prices will be jacked up for Glastonbury but this takes the piss. £3 for a small 99p flake. This however was pretty much across the board. Being charged £2.50 for a 500 ml bottle of coke is a 300% markup. Now I know they have to pay a fee and costs of workers. But then they do in a shop anyway.
But of all the traders I was impressed with the general standard of food and drink. It passed my expectations massively. The best 2 places I went for food had to be the Kabash North African place near Disco World. And Clara’s Caribbean Kitchen. There were some poor places but you will always get that. I remember with one place I asked for a sausage and cheese baguette and got charged £7!!! £7!!! It was crap as well. But then if you eat at as many places as we did you are always going to find poor places. The Cornish Arms was a cracking place for a pint and will look forward to seeing them next year.
I was very impressed with the quality and price of the milk trucks coming round too. I really enjoyed having a pint of cold milk that cost 80p every morning. The apple juice and water was also good value and the staff were very friendly. One of the funniest things I heard all festival was a milk truck driving along at 9am singing “Banana Milk” to the tune of Mana Mana by the Puppets.
Of all the beers available I was impressed with the slection of local ciders and ales. I was pleased to see that the big name brands weren’t being pushed in your face the whole time. Though I suspect you have a contract with Tuborg as they are everywhere. Well sorry to say it but it is a shocking pint. Worse than Carling. But not an issue as the ciders are lovely.
Right now probably my biggest issue with the whole festival. There are just too many people. Way too many. The people I went with are seasoned Glasto goers and they said that the place was never this crowded and was definately affecting their enjoyment. Everywhere we went there were people. Now I get that it’s going to be busy. But it was everywhere we went there were queues or it was full. The best example of this is that both Saturday and SUnday night we tried to get into Arcadia and Block 9 but failed. We ended up going through Shangri-La but couldnt stop anywhere as everything was full. I was looking forward to these places after hearing the stories but we turned away. The crowd was getting quite agitated. Massive disappointment. Everyone I spoke to said they’d be happy to pay more and reduce numbers. If you charge 177,000 £190 a ticket. You would get the same revenue charging £220 a ticket for 153,000 people.
The chill and charge tent was fantastic. The staff were lovely, especially a girl called Suzie who helped fix the chargers when they weren’t working. And I loved the idea of the entertainment there. Again my problem was overcrowding. There weren’t enough Iphone sockets and it took me an hour to find one and queue for it. A good idea would be to provide special areas round the tented bits. Maybe at the info points where you can use a plug socket or two if you have your own charger. Speaking of orange the glastonav application wasn’t ready for the start of the festival and never worked properly on the iphone.
Glastonbury was the first time I have ever had a good experience with so many police around. It is a great PR stunt for the Avon and Somerset police force. They were friendly, and helpful and got involved in the fun. One of the funnier things I saw was the amount of police wearing fairy wings. I thought they were laid back and helpful. I found that because the police were treating people like adults everything went off smoothly. I personally would like to see a bigger clamp down on the drug pushing at the stone circle but apart from that the police were exemplery. The same can’t be said about security. They were jobsworths mainly and not very useful.
Next year can you plllleeeeeaaaassseeee not tell everyone where the flushing loos are I quite enjoy going up there to their porcelain temple early in the morning. They were kept in great condition and the cleaners need a pat on the back. While up there I found the medical tent and free mole check people to be very nice. Again a great addition to the festival and I think they deserve a more central place rather than tucked away up there.
I was very appreciate that you folks made the effort to show both England matches. I know I know. We were there for the music. But like most English, football and music are very popular. So thank you for the effort gone to, to make sure we weren’t disappointed. Though it would have been better if maybe you hadn’t shown it!
One issue I’d like to highlight though was twice I witnessed a bad crush at the front right (looking at the stage) of the Pyramid. The path between the pyramid and the John peel tent. Now I know I might just be a Glasto virgin but we got caught up in the people rushing to see the Gorillaz and the people moving elsewhere. It was scary. People were screaming, kids were getting lifting up in the air so they didn’t get trampled. And I think it was only a matter of minutes before it got very very serious. The bad thing was that the security did nothing.
But don’t you worry I loved the festival and the people and I think you are doing a fantastic job and I shall be back every year I can get a ticket.
Thanks,
Brucie Thoughts
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Tags: eavis, emily eavis, glastonbury, gorillaz, michael eavis, muse, stevie wonder
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