Lugs

more info here http://www.hetchins.org/100.htm

but while we are at it check this out.

I have seen a lot of bikes but this just makes my knees go week, If I see a single try hard faker on one these. Please visit me in jail.

go to the website and take a slow look about.






















ahh yes,
Below is a nice shot inside Harry hooper

Busting out

My wife went on a training course and I was to meet her in the hotel lobby. It was raining and I wanted to get out of the rain. I rolled down my cycle mode shorts into pants and rolled my short sleeve jacket into a respectable soft shell. I made sure I had ridden slow enough to not get the dreaded water splatter along the butt seam of my pants and back. I sat down and realised that the lobby probably never looked as good.

Also, Shifty who was very important in the creation of the event that was CMWC 06 that was of course the best ever event of its kind .. yeah ever and in the future too. Anyway, Shifty left the city of Sydney with a rounding of the troops to wish Sifty a great farewell. I have pictures of him crying and it was not in pain.. or even self inflicted pain. He is now scaring the drivers and pedestrians of BrisVegas..yep he is crying in this pic. (Shifty in green)

The SYDBMA is holding the Courier Cup...the fastest over 2 events will get free return tickets to ACMC in Perth over the Easter long weekend

Last month my son turned 4. He fetured on my friend ohoh2's blog ... Those kids had a suprize visitor in the shape of SPIDERMAN. All the little girls were scared and all the little boys loved it.
SpiderMan towards the end of his routine made all the kids swords out of balloons. He then somehow managed to get them to beat me up with them. After standing in front of a BBQ and making enough sausages and fish to fedd an army I really did not feel like being pushed about by a squad of malicious balloon wielders. My son's friend Oscar was a little out of order when he started to punch me in the nose no less than 4 times then run off (stage left) fast. He hit me in the face on 2 different occasions and also started to lay into my gut on another. Lil bugger was hitting hard. How does a 4 year old learn that? I was wondering about approaching his dad who did the dump and run thing. Bahhhh later.

There are some things I really like. One of them is bikes and girls who ride them. You might have noticed that I often have a pic or 4 of a lady on my bike. Well I have some more now too. I would like to mention that I got my inspiration from TC from fyxomatosis. A few years ago i got a postcard info flyer of his exhhibit CIAO! I was hooked. I do not pretend to compete or even come close to the quality of his art but I dream too. Have a look at his site,well travelled in the bicycle courier world. Andy White (Track Cunt) has made the bike THE art form itself.

My attempt to be less "Still Life" and more "in the street". I wish I had the equipment.. sigh.

Speaking of photographers. My friend Peter's site is constantly being bombarded with hack attacks and other malicious net beasites.... What the real problem about that is Google black lists it and makes it hard to even view a picture. with its MALICIOUS warnings on sites that might have been hacked but are now fixed. It is like the warning is the virus. Also, who let google warn you with a big stick... Google did that's who. It's not really very fair. We are building him a new site with a new IP. So perhaps Google can just piss off.

Over the last few weeks I have met a fewNICE GUYS some of them were even riding fixies. The guy on the right was from the States and his bike had really lovely lugs I might be wrong but the badge on the head tube said ARAYA. Now as far as I knew they built rims and wheels in alloy. The badge did actually look just like the old PANASONIC head tube badge that looked like it would be more at home as a ring on some big guys finger. If you're into head badges look at this (just found it randomly).

The bike in question is the red one on the right it has mud guards and a nice easy ratio. what I really noticed ws the great lugs. I was really weirded out becuase the lugs looked a bit like a Colnago Arabesque (take a look at the unpainted pic on the left).
Also I managed to find more info that Araya did infact build bikes. But, I still dont see Japanese frame makers of the era taking the time on their lugs.

Also met a few more Sydney riders who once again prove that its not the bike but the ride.



Christian Carter on a bigger gear than me and no clips or cages... doing it fixed on platforms.. like the cool kids in France....




John Remi on his Elsworth with road slicks. He was commuting on a Sunday and was really happy to stop and say hello. Nice bike mate. How bout you come with us and put some fat rubber on that sucker?

My BIKE meets girls

I mean really, look at that. Chilly here was parking her car and was kind looking at my bike and I just asked her straight up if she minded having a pic with my bike. Little did she know that I thought her sandals where very very "my bike". On the other hand the pic of Lucy in white here was an obvious Friday afternoon in the park sort of thing, in fact Lucy came and met a bunch of after work Bike Couriers and hung about a bit had a bit of coopers and just chatted with a few of us in the park.

Lots of my guy mates say it is hard to meet ladies in Sydney but I think they have a hard time saying HELLO to anyone they do not know.

I have noticed in the last week a whole bunch of new style bikes around Sydney. What is a "new style bike" I hear you ask. Simple if its retro or has curves or is rebuilt and looks old or is fakenger looking , oh hold on that would be courier looking but thats not really accurate cause I know plenty of bike couriers who use gears but the fakenger look is single of fixed. I guess its called MESSENGER STYLE.

The Fixie is really being brought back in a huge way. I was down at bondi and snapping pics of bikes and I came accross a group of 3 unlocked bikes, all of them fixies and ll of them definatly not a working messenger bike a Soma, a Tommasini and a red bike with flat bars. all had toe straps and all no brakes. I thought "cool" so I snapped a few shots with the digi cam and a moment later I was riding off and took another few shots of bondi beach when I noticed the 3 bikes going past me. In a rush i put away my camera and then caught them up. "Can I take a group pic of you guys" I ask. I get the massive DIDNTHEARNOTHING" look from 2 of them whilst one slowed and said sure.

I yelled at the other 2 "HEY FAKENGERS" they noticed me this time as I made myself in thheir faces, once agin I ask if I can take a group shot and still one of them ignores me.

I mean really, if your gonna dress like me and my mates and your gonna ride bikes like me and my mates let me and my mates say "hello" at least.

I used to think the most stuck up group of riders where roadies then Triathletes and then most frindly are the MTB crowd. Now there is a new bunch. The poser fakengers with fixed gear bikes that look great.

Now I dont care what you ride , as long as you enjoy it, In any week I will ride MTB, urban, dual, Fixed and a roadie. I get along with everyone cause I just like to ride. these guys really pissed me off. Additedly one of them did say "hey come for a ride on wednesdays from the Cricketers" (he might have said from 7 but I am not sure about that) cause he said he had to catch up.. but even I could keep up on my fat nobbys about 5 seconds later. but really these guys where just rude and rode bikes I would love, well one of their frames perhaps. perhaps one day I can look as good as them.bahhhh they suck.

here(left coloum of 3 above) is their bikes so you too can call them bitches and slag them off.


On the other side here is ED, you can find Ed at RUBYS DINER, aCAFE on Bronte Rd just up from the police station on the same side, great coffe and sometimes some very nice bikes parked out the front, the half link black thing is his. I think it is a felt single speed but he loves it so all is well.
good coffee and good food. I met Ed at a Cycle Mafia event that finnished at deus a white ago.

The whole movement of THE FIXED GEAR BIKE has suddenly appeared here in Sydney and came as a shock to the "bike messengers" here. Bike messengers (I rather call them couriers as that is the local term) feel a bit jipped off. Originally they had the idea that They where the trend setters and that it was theirs. I myself was a nay sayer and said, how can you work on a bike like that, blah blah blahhhh... Its bad for your knees and this and that. Now I ride a fixed gear bike (amongst others) and I really enjoy it. I do not know if I was a working messenger if I woud ride every day on one but I can definately see why they like them.

Another thing that pople dont thank bike couriers for is the enurance racees like 12 and 24 hour MTB racing. 10 years ago there where no long off raod races like that, bike couriers used to hold these events as a picnics, it became popular. you often see strong groups of riders from these backgrounds. On the few events that I have been involved with in one way or another they have always had a strong presence (the bike couriers) and where sometimes even admired as riding for 12 hours was the norm. I even went in a 12 hour race with a "Courier class", the pre-requisite to race in this class was to wear a bag whilst racing.

When I was in Japan last year I noticed how many fixed gear bikes there where that looked like bike messengers but where not. They really made stylizing their bike an art form, some of the riders could not ride down a hill or even get up a gutter.

some cool fixed things to do are skids and backwards circles, then there are more advanced things to do like bar spins and perhaps POLO on your fixed gear bike. Ideal because you can go backwards.

I still ride my geared bikes a lot but it takes me while to remeber that I CAN stop pedaling when I do ride other bikes.

"A babe" says Matt
OK I finally got a response form someone after posting my bike with various people 'Holding' it. So mat this here is Megan that you asked about.

Matt, She is no longer single so your to slow my friend.

however she was cool when I told her about how much you like her shots. So here is some more for you.

AT&T are headed to release the OS SYMBIAN for its handsets. (if your asking about Australia "WHO CARES".. until anything happens here and it won't its best to keep an eye on what is really happening in the werld of telecommunications).
A possible slap in the face to the number of IPhones using the Apple and perhaps a competitor to Googles Android that was released as open source a few months ago. Will Apple release it's IPone platform to the public giving it a much needed user side.

Symbian has been used for some time on a variety of popular international phones, including Nokia's own S60 line and phones from Sony Ericsson. With this acquisition of the entire platform, though, Nokia plans to open source Symbian, making it a much more service-agnostic choice for AT&T versus Android, Google's open source mobile phone OS. Android had developmental help from a variety of hardware manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, and LG, and already offers advanced functionality like the application marketplace. But Google's OS has been criticized by some carriers and manufacturers as being too Google-centric, tying too closely into services like Gmail and Google contact syncing.

Also

Nokia responds to the projected drop in handset demand by effectively ceasing its efforts to penetrate the Japanese market... or, rather, what's left of the Japanese market.

Windows Mobile has become 42.9 % more popular.

meanwhile my son wants to play flash games fro the nickelodeon site and forces me off the computer. I am considering buying him a glorified communication device in the form of an eeePC. I can buy one locally for about 50 to 700 bucks , powered by possibly the better CPU in current release the ATOM from Intel. They are WiFi ready , have bluetooth but somehow miss the 3G connection to get on the phone line. many of them have web cams and so this makes them ready for SKYPE or social networking.. If your a geek and your not up to speed on this ... Your not a geek.

I went to a handfull of local mobile phone providers of hardware and service and of the approximately 20 service staff that claim to know something only ONE of them knew of ANDROID in any form. ... what is ANDROID? i t is an open source mobile phone opperating system. And there are LOTS of apps being made for it every day.

So is the mobile phone becoming a multi media device or is the multimedia device becoming super portable?

I have become addicted to the BLOOD series of mini games on facebook. It has basically cured me of a long passion I have with RPG genre. I used to spend hours killing trolls and shadow warriors and the like in EverQuest and everquest 2 then I went to AoC and even tried WoW. but was soo pissed off that they claim that they cant do stuff cause it resembles real life then around christmass you find snowball and candy canes to waste slots in your inventory. Did it make me mad. Yes , especially when they are the reason why they did not do stuff cause it was to REAL LIFE. the ad Christmas trees (only cause they are so NOT real life... what crap is that?).

Celibrating real life holliday occasions and events in a fantasy game is just trying to butter both sides of your bread... but where do you hold on to it without getting butter on your fingers?

Second Life is dead (not quite)..... I tried it 2 times and both times it was a waste of my time. The learning curve was steep but its flaw was also one of its charms. the fact that there was Telstra badges on my start up location was almost like having cops standing in the corners at a rave... it just does not work. especially when like in WoW, the more experienced users "grief" the noobs, so do the older users of secondlife dish out how basic you are in your 2nd hour... makes the whole thing a waste of time and unfriendly..... perhaps if I could just find an OS server instead of the telstra one.

Griefers are bullies .. end of story.

Star Wars: the old republic is being taken on by BioWare... this has surly have to be a good thing

Death Penalty ....


not the real life one but when your CHAR DIES... here is a mouthfull of crap we dont need explained about EVE. Eve is a great game but seriously it get really booring if you do one to many missions... I was in a bunch of great corporations (guilds) but now that my last one has disbanded im bored... VERY bored.. oh was that MY Account that lapsed.. im sorry... but my muninn and broadsword sits in a proverbial black home until i bother to re start my account.
I have been having the hardest time finding a pice of space that was right for me.... I just became bored... the most exciting thing to happen was a vlob of reds not see me as I was on the gate they came through... must have been a blob of about 130 ships or so.... exciting but no one was close enough to "de cloak" me.

Also I find the idea of having to pre-book for fleet battle 2 things.
firstly its a cry for help to secure the diminishing nuber of seats required to actually have a fleet.
and secondly it takes away the impromptu of the MMO. I play MMO cause there is a certain level of randomness.. In my life at the moment somethings I cant BOOK to fight... I must fight now or l just log off.

Although I am quite tired of EVE it has one thing that is great... ONE SERVER... this ONE server model is great.. cause all your frinds and enemies will eventually log on to the same server.

found this .. interesting but it not me.. this might be...
http://www.massively.com/2008/07/21/eve-evolved-suicide-ganking-investigated/


I am an avid hater of WOW. I hate the kids and I hate the rubbish that you need to put up with.. I hate competing egos over coffee and I hate the fact that it takes an idiot to play the game. Once upon a time before class leveling MMO games where actually fun because you needed a wizard or you needed a priest or you needed a warrior... now its all leveled. WOW is leveled, EverQuest is definately class leveled and it was even wound back to make it easy for people who don't want to read the maual or think its to hard for a druid to fight past a gate... get a life.. its a game... wait for someone to help you.. not just complain. Wow won the MMO game between itself and everquest by making the system requirements to be LOW as opposed to the uber machine required to play EverQuest. Essentially the games are more similar now than when they where conceived. Wow is better hands down but it still looks like a cartoon whilst everquest is truly imersive.

Age Of Conan has come between them to give easy game play, quick leveling and a variety of leveled classes and a cool char generation. I have stope playing lady characters and now only play men. I was lucky in AoC as it was true (since fixed) that female chars did not hit as hard... War Hammer is now the flavour of the month.

The BFF or Bicycle Film Festival went through Sydney with a bit of a lump this year. Brent, the patron and organizer was still bleeding from his inside mouth and was still sore from being beaten up in Paris a few weeks earlier.. He did not drink and was not quite the social butterfly he usually is. He also managed to make the organizers of this years Sydney event fell rather bad. A real pity really as it was just not needed. I think what Brent really needs is some quiet time away from the needs of others and concentrate on just lying around and getting some vitamin D. Then a few weeks later perhaps take up where he left off. It was also very hard to market and promote the event with the next to zero notice we got about the program. I had the feeling that Brent wanted to take over the event for the short time he was here and disregarding the 9 months of event planning and council negotiation that went on. Sydney is not an easy place to do anything (that is just a reminder). There are many bike sub cultures in Sydney and getting them together is a chore.

The organizers this year did a great job getting the bike riders of Sydney involved from opening bike rides and parties, art galleries, fashion show that was dominated by bike messengers, nude ride, polo, the event, swap meets and a host of other side activities. Well done to the core group. team players all of them and not to mention cool too... I cant believe that was not the words of our benefactor. I am annoyed at Brent about that. My favorte movie had my mate Adam and Meg in it. Very cute very quaint. made me smile.

The Bike Valet Parking on King Street, Newtown was a great success. It was used well, set up well and was seen by lots and lots of people who went past the Dendy Cinema in Newtown.

The After party on Sunday was also a great with Paul and Fiona providing the "most excellent" food. ( I feel like a scene from Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure ( 81%) )

Last week I went to a red carpet showing of Quantum Of Solace (65%) I went with a mate of mine who often is my company at movies to the flicks. We see good movies and bad but generally we don't see drama or girly stuff. I was very disappointed with the fact that it was a Red carpet affair and We where the only ones in dinner jackets. It put us both in a bad mood and frankly I was disjointed that no one else thought it necessary to dress up to go to a James bond premier. The movie was not the normal james bond, No cars, no inventions and no panting sex scenes as corny as they are. The intro drive scene was a joke as those 250 HP alfas that might be 4WD can kick the begeeezuz outa a rear wheel drive Austin Martin on the tight dirt track that we where supposed to believe was a pit of construction. However the intital fight scene was awesome but might have been more at home in a kung-Fu movie. I reckon the best ever Kung Fu movie is this. ... not excatly a nice way to end a paragraph about a James Bond Movie but really.. it was crap...
This is a second link to The best Kung Fu movie of all time

on a more here and now...Some of you locals might have heard about the gang who are hitting ATMs in the wee hours and robbing them of money. Well 2 nights ago I woke at almost 2am from a loud bang in the night.

Going down for my morning coffee on a rare child free day. I took this photo. (cool bike on the road)

But the gas cylinders used to blast the Clovelly Road ATM destroyed the machine, the front of the bank and damaged the thieves' getaway car. from SMH

And, I can confirm that...


A police spokeswoman could not confirm reports the car was stolen in a carjacking. (from smh) to be true.

In fact the passenger was holding her door so hard she ripped it off the inside of the door as she was wrenched out of the car. The driver whom I know to be meek and mild to be rather shattered this morning (the next day). Im just glad they are ok and I hope that the incident did not shatter the Driver of the hijacked car too much.

The car of choice seems to be an AUDI as Audi seems to pup up everywhere .. almost as much as in IronMan.

So I spent 30 minutes sitting in a borrowed chair from the cafe in the street and watching the police divert traffic and watching the media take report after report. Some detectives turned up and its true. They stood out like very sore thumbs and wore very bad ties.

The rest of the day was a hoot. Managed to organize a blind date for Lane, Take a few pictures of very nice bike with ladies hang in the sun for a few hours also. A great day really
Also got this great shirt from KINGKOG


I would like to correct a mistake on my last post. I was talking about some stand out games from the past where I mentioned Soul Caliber. What I really meant to say was SOUL BLADE It came out on the PS1.

I can't figure out what makes me angrier: my habit of anonymously trolling web. forums, or my video game playing.

this statement is kinda the ultimate bored web user.. somehow I empathize TOTALLY. grab a visual here full story here

.A new Bike Messenger photographic slash artistic site.

I have serious travel plans for 2009, culminating with the World Championships in September. Big dreams that need real funds. To help finance my trips, I will be launching a series of online raffles. I’ve organized lotteries before and they have always proven to be highly successful.

Not only will I be giving away large format limited edition prints, I also have some sponsors who are joining in and donating some products and gift certificates. I think there will be some really sweet prizes up for grabs.

stay tuned, all the official info will be online by this weekend.

Now when couriers complain about the weather in Sydney. Hmmm. You know not to listen.

Fixie Specific Crash
I met some of my friends on Federation Way and we rode towards St. Peters to the Art Show RODE,EDGE. We where late and we where not in a huge rush and we just took our lane and went along the Wilson St highway (a local road that is shared by cars and bikes).

I was out of the saddle and pumping a little when I felt my legs fly free with no friction like my chain had come off. At the time I was standing out of the pedals. Down I went. hitting the ground hard and rolling only my elbow and onto my back. I noticed a car right there on right (behind me), still clipped in, I managed to throw my bike away from the cars towards the side of the road as I was still clipped in.

The guys I was cycling with thought I really know how to fall, but the look on my face of knowing my bike was in harms way was apparently "golden" I threw with my legs my bike with deliberate actions to put my bike out of harms way.

My slide stops, I'm stinging on my elbow and hands and knee. The car occupants asked if I was OK, my friends on bikes asked if I was OK... Ohhhh the humility.. I'm OK.

my lock ring had somehow un-wound a thread or 2 and my cog had jammed tight up aginst it in a slightly unwond possition. when peddaling the cog wanted to "tighten" on its spline, when i did tighten I had a no fricion against the weight I was putting into the cranks. The cog tightened back into a secure position but it was enough for me to "bin it" in front of Adam for his Birthday.

Happy birthday mate

We ride to the Art show , we are late. It looks like everyone was having a great time. Bikes and bike art and fashion is everywhere .

We where there for about 1 hour and a Police Man came and shut the party down. No seriously Sydney really needs to re-evaluate it's police force. to explain what was going on was a medium sized group and very not drunk or disorderly. The public where a very tame group and the music was not loud and people where talking and not yelling. So the crowd was very under control and there was no dangerous things happening. Things where tame. The police shut down the group for no reason other than they must have been super bored. after all most yobbos where inside watching the football. Sydney Police really are not very community friendly. The Art/ fashion show was a community event that was soft as flowers. Cops just need to stop treating us all like a communist state or like we are ALL CRIMINALS prior to being one.

Probably a knee jerk reaction to being a penal colony 200 years ago.. the rum coat and rum rebellion vibe is still alive in Sydney.

Lust is a bicycle. just check this out and its new.

Its on ebay today for a few days so just let your fingers do the purchasing and spend 6.5 grand. This bike is just gorgeous and my size . It is a track bike and has no marks o it at all, master light and ohhh what a paint jobby. Pity it is a 54 and not a 53 .. forget the fact that I wont buy a bike that I cant ride without worrying about it.

My bike is such a floosy, I went to Norton St today for the ITALIAN FIESTA Festival, the street was closed off and the Bike Valet was operational. I arrive in the morning and you can ride down the closed road and things are warming up. 30 minutes later it was chock-o-block with people from everywhere. I was impressed by the vibe of the event and that kids where catered for in both activities and shows.

I would like to thank the people who put up with me and helped with the bike valet service. I think we had a great day. Sunday is always good when you can do something that requires you to people watch at an event. Paddy, Rob and Rob and Elaena.

My bike had the best day. I had a hard time figuring which bike to take as I was running late. The green one or the red one.. hmmm what was I wearing... ohh my dilemma. I might not get dressed for anyone ... but picking the right bike is very important.

Anyway I rode my skidstar. The skidstar was a gift from Owen Denmeade and was a frame and bent forks only. it was covered with black house paint and had a coat of kinda sunfaded orange original paint on it.. It even had some original decals under there. The paint job is so dodgey im sure the decals and house paint is under the bright red/orange top layer...

So I built this with new wheels and parts I had in my garage. the wheels are Velocity with flat spokes and formula hubs. the cranks are from my mate Adam, Raleigh 70's era cranks (170mm) with 50 x 17 ring and cog, turbo seat and nothing fancy bars stem. I am rather scared of my forks. They are series 1 TCR (yes GI##T) and they have a one inch steerer tube. I reckon my bike looks sweet and by the looks of it a lot of others do too.




photos by Nokia E65

I tell you.
The latest craze is giving me the shits.

I do ride a Fixie and I enjoy it. There are plenty of reasons not to ride my fixie and I sometimes ride other bikes too, as I have a range of a few bikes I can ride given the ride, weather and terrain.

I have a head turning fixie with a very hard gear ratio. I was always a spin up and push kinda guy, rearly did I sit but I would lean on my saddle. most of my weight was always on my pedals.

I am no longer young or cool or in fashion. I don't try to dress like anyone. I just get up and do my thing and get dressed.

2 days ago a message arrived in my IN BOX and it was from a journalist. They wanted info on "why are fixies so popular".

I really am not the best person to ask. I have a little spoke card that says FIXIES SUCK. I ride one too, and I enjoy it. Please don't forget my other bikes.

The journalist was asking the same basic questions as the previous Jurno asked. The jurno then said that they got a Trek Single Speed, for the article. As far as I know, and that is limited to what I see, I had the idea that Fixed gear bikes have their appeal because of the "basic-ness" of them, the cool in the ride and the feeling of nothing making a rattle sound and feeling attached. This all comes with the riders personalised position, set up and bits. After all there should not be to many bits to a fixie. A real fixie might treat a bike like trash, but you could call that artistic expression and style.

I just find the whole idea of fixed gear bikes on the general market interesting.

Bike messengers are possibly the hardest people you will meet in your urban sprawl, And possibly the hardest working versus how much they actually get for any one job they do.

They have been left unprotected by the law in relation to rights they have on the road (in my city anyway as it is in MOST others). HOWEVER, they are mimicked even to destruction. Everyone wants to look as cool as a Bike Courier. The free life outdoors.

Bike messengers ride fixies cause they want to. There is no reason why they cant. But I warn you budding noobies and fakengers. Riding a fixie is not for the feint of heart.

My neighbour who jumped on my bike made almost a whole 2 pedal strokes before he fell off. yep he tried to stop and paniced. Over the bars he was thrown. Quite funny but pending law suit is what I saw in mid air when everything just stopped. If I could just hit the rewind key and bend his knee. But to my amazment he neglected to let go so he landed on his back and not his face.

Fixies are for those who can do it. When asked by the jurno over the phone interview, what accessory would I not be without. I said a strong and small enough "D" lock. Small enough to put in my butt pocket. and no I dont mean up my arse thanks.

Bike Couriers have spoken to the media a lot of late and even when the journalist asks questions that seem harmless. It seems that the editors at one of our main publishers seem to always put a negative spin on the story when there is a bike courier involved. I can say they are burning their bridges.

2nd Bottom pic is of Simon from Perth doing a 315 meter skid ( 1017.0572999999999 feet)

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