இ Finale ~ 7 Random Facts of Bananaz ~ Everlasting Love

Supposedly to be on a low profile but eventually ended up fully exposed and peeled right up from stem to fruits and from head to toe. The 7 Random Facts of Bananaz tagged by Mariuca and Jingle has finally come to an end with this entry. Lina also tagged me with another tag by MKL too on the 7 Links Project. Would combine all together with some slight variations into this entry. Sorry it took a much longer period of time as initially Bananaz hope to complete within 7x7=49 days. Moving backwards chronologically in further peeling the 'everlasting love' of Bananaz.

1. 1993 *18 years* ~ Since we came into this world in our birthday suit it must be nice and comfortable to sleep without wearing anything. Its one of the healthiest ways to relax and my blanket is merely a piece of cloth *of course the real blanket is always on stand by in the cupboard*. Anyway a note of caution here, always have your clothes or robe at a proper place handy for emergency use such as natural calamities, fire and robbery. Would be horrible to see your naked pix in the headlines just like the pix. BTW sleeping naked in Minnesota is illegal. How true?.

2. 1992 *19 years* ~ Bananaz's first pair of faithful Asics jogging shoes almost totally worn out. Currently still wearing them for brisk walking and squash occasionally. This pair of jogging shoes came into the scene after encountering feet problem after the Penang Bridge run in 1991.

3. 1991 *20 years* ~ Not willing to part with this singlet even though its worn out at the upper collar. Somehow not pretty good in throwing away things perhaps its the lifestyle Bananaz was brought up the frugal way.

4. 1992 *19 years* ~ This theme music from 'Airwolf' has been Bananaz's ring tone since he owned his very first hand phone until today *quite certain this Airwolf ring tone will follow Bananaz for life*. *Sorry my first hand phone was a second hand NEC, Bananaz only got the ring tone after purchasing a nokia phone*. Some may remember this macho helicopter pilot Jan-Michael Vincent, whoa really loved to watch him in the TV series. Started off with Celcom am still with Celcom and will be with Celcom. Guess what? My handphone number has never been changed, except during the migration of analog 010 to digital 019.

5. 1980 *31 years* ~ Learned hatha yoga from a lady guru whom the doctors have given up hope on her shoulder and told her she would not be able to use her left arm. Her last resort was to take up yoga, mastered it and got her arm healed and later conducted her own hatha yoga class in her house compound in Penang. The headstand *Sirshasana* and Sun Salutation *Surya Namaskara* would be a daily routine for Bananaz.

6. 1977 *34 years* ~ Another long lasting wedding great electrical iron gift. Changed the electrical cable once and Bananaz got a feeling the much awaited steam iron gotta wait for perhaps another 5-10 years more?.

7. 1970 *41 years* ~ Keeping 5 sen was an accidental 'hobby' as it was a naughty plan to make life 'difficult' for one ticketing lady in State Cinema in Petaling Jaya during our college days. She always make a fuzz over the small change of money especially 5 sen as the entrance ticket cost RM0.65 then. We wanna give her all in 5 sen in one of our purchase for a few tickets but then we are all kind hearted students *ahem* only angry and upset for a short span of time. Bananaz also loves collecting coins from different countries too.

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இ Random facts VI Part 2 ~ The Years Gone By

They say the first love is the sweetest but that first cut is the deepest. The first sight of snow is Bananaz's most unforgettable experience for the very first time in Mt Fuji, after living in a tropical country where the weather is hot and humid all year round. Sorry no additional pumping of adrenalin or excitement like bungee jump, sky diving or para-gliding for this post but more on going places on holidays.

The only thrilling excitement was joining the Outward Bound School in Lumut. Could remember vividly the Warden's words of encouragement saying Bananaz is 42 years 'young' among the rest of the younger bounders. He constantly reiterated the OBS motto "To Serve, To Strive and Not To Yield" to remind us never to give up. Just to share one experience that almost all would shudder with a chill down the spine when comes to the fear of darkness in tandem with 'ghost' and Bananaz is no exception. Die die we must go through solo camping where you build your own tent far away from each other and naturally the bounders would hum Lobo's 'I dont like to sleep alone' the whole night through. What surprised me was when the fear of snakes, wild boars or tigers grew so huge it dwarfed the unwholesome thoughts of ghosts completely out of the mind.

The future Senor Presidente..இ MAKE BLOG NOT WAR இ

Snow..more snow...oooohhhhhhhh so much more snow..

1980's ~ Revival of the 50's broad ties worn by my Papa. Bananas anyone?

1983's ~ Yummy Japanese steam boat dinner.. Oishii!

1984's ~ The unnoticed elderly aborigines of Taiwan.

1994's ~ Bananaz's very first lion dance *stand-in tail* performance in Puttaparti, India celebrating Lunar Chinese New Year in this small holy village which was transformed into a mini Chinatown.

1995's ~ Monalisa is watching you from a distance..

1995~ The Fab Four + One..I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

2000 ~ 2010 Globe-trotting..*lit.* eat wind ..makan angin in Malay and 吃風chīfēng in Mandarin where no biting, chewing or swallowing is required merely OYBM..Open Your Big Mouth..^o.O^

2011 ~ A special dinner arranged by daughter Nikki for Father's Day Celebration with soulmate Mango.



Bananaz hitting seventy : Click Here Exit

o.Ooops..It's dark in here, can someone please open the fire 開火kāihuǒ!


When I'm 7eventy: Turn ON the Light Turn the Light OFF

Bananaz not 6ixty.. yet!..Slowly and surely on d'way

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இ Random facts VI ~ As Years Go By

The Old Geezer.

*The Old Geezer was the 64th commenter in my last post "When U ЯR 64". Oh what a coincidence! He wrote an enlightening comment ~ "Old age ain't for sissies! Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege!" Profound and insightful words of wisdom from a wise man. Almost coming to the end of my 7 Random Facts of Bananaz, one more to go. A picture paints a thousand words. Kindly bear with the time for uploading as it may take awhile. Its all about the adventures of Bananaz in his 20 something, turning 30, pushing 40 reaching 50 making it to 60 hitting 70 and gracefully hope to get into 80 and perhaps more. (Sorry for the poor condition of the old scanned photos).

By looking at the two pictures above one should be able to tell some stories and the year. No prize for guessing. Yup its Woodstock, the Psychedelic Flower People, Peace and Make Love Not War.  Cannot see any ears or shoes and the bell bottoms or commonly called in our local lingo 'hala hala' could go around at 25 inches. Singapore had their strict rule of 4 x 2 meaning the hair at the side must have two fingers clearance from the ears and 4 fingers from the back of the neck. Never been to Singapore until late 80's. The picture of little Bananaz is a classic example of 4 X 2 haircut. Noticed the hair parting? As a boy would part the hair from left to right which is the norm for guys those days but got it changed from right to left during secondary school and what about the watch? It's on my right hand all becoz Bananaz wants to be different.

1970's ~ Full throttle: It's almost every young men's dream to drive a machine full blast without the fear of getting a speeding ticket. Powered by a two-stroke adapted chainsaw McCulloch 87cc engine and slick tyres to grip on asphalt road. When the chief track marshal at the starting point announced "Start your engine!", the adrenaline really started pumping. Go Kart races were mostly held in Penang with the 'racing track' start/end at the main Post Office and only been to a competition once in Taiping.

1970's: Where's Bananaz? Clue: The person who defies superstition or taboo over unlucky number?

1980's ~ Mount Aso: is the largest volcano in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. That was the closest Bananaz ever landed the feet at the crater. Honestly with the current quakes and eruption around the globe we may not have the opportunity to be near volcano. According to Wikipedia an erruption that took place from 300,000 to 90,000 years ago created a huge caldera, 25km across north to south and 18km across east to west. Its circumference is estimated between 80 and 120km.

1990's: The two hours wait for this ride was worth the while, imagine travelling at a top speed of 160km/hour and a free fall straight down from 115 metres. Venue is Dreamworld, Gold Coast Australia. The 'Tower of Terror' with Speed: Up to 160 km/hour, Height: 115 metres or 38 storeys, Length: 330 metres (=3 football fields), Track Length: 400 metres, Acceleration: 0 to top speed in 7 seconds, Weightlessness: 6.5 seconds, Gravity Forces:4.5 G's. Location of Bananaz: second row second from left.

1990's: The view is spectacular from up above Mount Kinabalu and the greatest pleasure in life is doing things that others say you cannot do which is against my doctor's recommendation not to climb mountain. In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low’s Peak) height at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sea level, which is some 6 metres (20 ft) less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of 4,101 metres (13,455 ft).[(Said this before in previous post). ]

Con't Part 2..

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இ Random facts V ~ Nothing Left In Right Brain

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Our little 'crinkly walnut' brain is a master piece. It is divided in two parts – left & right. In the left nothing is right and in the right nothing is left. There are many brainy schools of thought and myths regarding the left brain right brain. As far as writing is concerned Bananaz uses right hand from day one but left hand on the Chinese abacus and later electronic calculator in order to save time while holding the pen in the right hand. Been wearing my first ever watch on the right hand since younger days and owning two anticlockwise watches currently *dare to be different* whoa. In any cue sports Bananaz does not need the "rake" or "bridge stick" for billiard or snooker game as the cue could be easily switch to the left hand and vice versa.

Bananaz became much bolder in late 90's going against all odds in attempting to 'exercise' the right brain by training the left hand to use chopsticks and writing and also to remind the mind that "Nothing is Impossible" Know what? He did it. Prefer to place the computer mouse on the left but on rotation basis to the right at a regular basis. Ooops! Now comes the confusion. Is Bananaz a right hander or a lefty? If I don't know I don't know, I think I know. If I don't know I know, I think I don't know ~ (Ronald David Laing, psychiatrist 1927-1989).

Done a quiz from Creativity Test and here are the results: Left Brain (54%); Right Brain (46%).
Bananaz's Result? : Click Here Exit

You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the "whole" picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you. Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge.

Your complete evaluation follows below:


Your Left Brain Percentages:
46% Logical (Your most dominant characteristic)
44% Sequential
32% Linear
27% Verbal
25% Symbolic
0% Reality-based (Your least dominant characteristic)


Your Right Brain Percentages:
44% Nonverbal (Your most dominant characteristic)
34% Intuitive
28% Random
28% Concrete
24% Fantasy-oriented
6% Holistic (Your least dominant characteristic)

According to research by Amar Klar at the National Cancer Institute ~ "the gene for hand preference might also be the gene for hair whorl direction, the way a person's hair turns on the top of their head. Half of people with counter clockwise whorls prefer their left hand". Oh my! Bananaz's hair whorl direction is counter clockwise. Going further with the Geschwind theory, named after Norman Geschwind, a neurologist, proposed that the presence of high levels of testosterone before birth can lead to a left-handed child. Unfortunately, scientists can't open up someone's brain and see a sign for hand preference, so the myth remains that lefties are more artistic. What remains true is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa.

A usual mundane conversation transpired during morning breakfast which goes like this..

香蕉人: 有時候我不曉的我是左手是右手? Pinyin: yǒu shí hou wǒ bù xiǎo de wǒ shi zuǒ shǒu shi yòu shǒu?
Bananaz : Sometimes I wonder whether I'm left or right hander?

芒果: 那個不重要; 愛不愛我才重要
Pinyin: mángguǒ ~ nà ge bùzhòngyào ài bù ài wǒ cái zhòngyào.
Mango: That one not important, love no love me only important (lit.)

Oh dear! A classic case of  "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" where by two genders who have diametrically different communication styles, emotional needs and personal values to each other as pointed out by the author of this book, John Gray?

Click HERE to learn how to write Chinese 左右.

Lefties have long suffered. Eating with the left hand is considered impolite in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Chinese characters prove extremely difficult to write with the left hand and in the past teachers would slapped the wrists of left-handed students. According to Wikipedia, the Chinese character for "left", 左 depicts a left hand attending to work 工 gōng. In contrast, the character for "right", 右 (Mandarin: yòu) depicts a right hand in relation to the mouth 口 kǒu, suggesting the act of eating. In the olden days in China, the left has been the "bad" side. The adjective "left" 左 pinyin: zuǒ means "improper" or "out of accord". However in one of the Daoist temple one must hold the incense and place them in the urn with the left hand during prayers. According to this Dao, the right hand is "bad" most likely contaminated with evil deeds based on the variety of studies suggest that 10% of world population are left-handed.

Left Brain Teasers:

Because their brains are organised differently, left-handers see and think differently and can get some very different results from various "brain tests", usually doing very well on tests that involve creative thinking or unraveling complex images and manipulating 3D images. Here's a famous test of creativity - have a look at the image below:

A non-creative right handed brain sees only a hodgepodge of disconnected shapes, but the left-handed brain can go beyond logic and find the connecting concept that makes sense of the shapes. If you can't "see" beyond the shapes, it's because your right-handed brain is trying to solve the problem and won't let your left-handed brain have a go. If you still can't see the picture, the answer is at the bottom of this page **

Here's another example showing how your left-handed brain can even create things that don't exist. If you can see the white triangle - the one with its apex pointing up - it's because your left-handed brain has created that triangle to unify what is otherwise simply a collection of angles and PacMan shapes. There is, in fact, no white triangle there.

**The picture in the first brainteaser is of a dog drinking from a stream, with its head in the middle of the picture facing down to the water and its tail off to the right.

Are you aware that August 13 is designated International Lefthanders Day by Lefthanders International who are from 7-10% of the world's population? This myth holds that a right-brain person is generally creative, intuitive, artsy, while a left-brain person is more of a problem-solver, more logical. What do you think? Myth or Fact?

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இ Random facts IV Part 2 ~ And Her Name Is Nikki

Autumn Belle dripped a bloody cute comment in my earlier entry of Part 1, The Good, The Bad & The Bloody singing "O-bloody, O-blaa - daa". Thanks to all for your kind concern and well wishes that my daughter would escape  inheriting the disease from me but sorry to say she has heterozygous alpha - Thalassemia. The Beatles lyriced it o-bloody clear ~ "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah! lala how the life goes on." No matter what, life has to go on and nothing gonna stop us now.

My loving daughter would be at a disadvantage as she would be facing the monthly complication which will aggravate a further depletion of her hemoglobin at 107g/L average for female is (115-165g/L). There was debate where a girl claimed she is stronger than the boy with this remark 'Can you bleed for a week and survive?' Wow terror! Some women may want to make a stand that men took away too much from them that the word 'women' has a two letters 'wo' against three for 'men'. Adding another 'o' would balance the word in equilibrium 'woomen' but then it sounds like 'woo' the 'men'. However some woMEN are getting bolder considering men a menace and start blaming men for causing so much discomfort with the monthly MENstrual cycle or MENses and MENopause. Of late often hear this over the TV from a desperate housewife saying ~ 'do you think you can help me to put MENopause on pause?'. Really? Can it be on pause? Please do not get me wrong not provoking battle of the sexes here, I come in peace.

In the early 70s heard this music composed by Burt Bacharach on TV, who wrote it specially for his daughter but turned tragic in the later years. Immediately Bananaz fell in love with the music and also the name and discussed about it with girlfriend and both agreed to use the name for our daughter should we get married 5 or 10 years later when have our own children. Whoa that was surely a long term plan for our one and only child..And Her Name Is NIKKI..

Ever heard of this old Chinese saying "Those surname Lee cannot marry another with the same Lee surname  李婆嫁李公*Lǐ pó jià Lǐ gōng* Lee wife marrying Lee husband? In the ancient days parents forbid their children with the same surname to get married as they felt it would be like closest as brother and sister relationship. All sorts of excuses would arised, that the off springs would be affected physically and mentally, may get down syndrome etc. Or who knows it could be thalassemia that they were so worried about but could not put a name to it? Currently we are seeing uncountable Tan's marrying the Tan's and Xie's marrying the Xie's which has been accepted in this modern era.

Anyway Thalassemia diesease must not be forgotten and should be a concern for now or even in future when the traits keep multiplying. Allow me to reiterate here, if both parents carry a hemoglobinopathy trait, there is a 25% chance with each pregnancy for an affected child. Patients with Alpha-thalassemia minor usually do not require any specific treatment. Treatment for patients with Beta-thalassemia major includes chronic blood transfusion therapy, iron chelation and [ HERE ]. Some private Pathology Labs even have posters in their clinics offering various blood test packages for couples for HIV or Thalassaemia diseases etc before tying the nuptial knots which is highly recommend to do so.

The picture above is in Todai-ji temple in Nara, Hokkaido, one of the oldest wooden temple in the world built in 752 which lasted through some fires leaving behind some structures and the 16 meters bronze Buddha statue free from the devastating fire. There is a peculiar pillar with a hollowed out A4 size hole at the base. The Japanese belief it will cleanse ones bad luck if you are able to squeeze through the hole and will live a longer life. Bananaz successfully slipped through with ease and sincerely wish for another 2 decades starting today to further enlighten his life and anything more than that would be a bonus.

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இ Random facts IV ~ The Good The Bad & The Bloody 血

Click to learn Chinese word xue.

Mind my language for using the last word 'bloody' in the title as this entry is practically very bloody oops sorry said bloody again. During my schooling days we were forbidden to utter 'bloody fool' which is considered just as bad as the four letter word but when coming of age we hear or see this word so rampantly used almost everyday.

How nice to inherit millions from our parents and have a whale of a time like the standard fairy tale ending phrase, "lived happily ever after"? Wake me I'm dreaming!!! So far Bananaz has not inherited any goodies yet only CVD or color blindness and now what, more bad news? An incurable HbH disease. Ohhh how dreadful when you read this *let me put it in bold* INCURABLE disease? What runs through your mind? As we all know the speed of light travels faster than sound and the expert NLP practitioners talked about the MIND travel even much faster.

Well let's tap into the hidden powers of your mind to see what disease gets connected with 'H'? Definitely neither 'Hyper Tension' nor 'Hepatitis' disease? Oh dear why so black heart to allow 'HIV' to cross your mind haha. Okie dokie high time to spill the beans, so what is actually HbH Disease? HbH stands for Haemoglobin or Hemoglobin H Disease which is part of the Alpha Thalassemia Syndrome.

What is Thalassemia?

Thalassemia 地中海形貧血 *dì zhōng hǎi xíng pín xuè* (Mediterranean anemia in Chinese) is a genetic blood disorder. People with Thalassemia disease are not able to make enough hemoglobin that are found in red blood cells which carries oxygen to all parts of the body. The disorder results in excessive destruction and mutation of red blood cells thus causes severe anemia.

Thalassemia is a genetic disease. This means that a person can only get Thalassemia disease or trait by inheriting the genes for Thalassemia from their parents. Genes determine what we look like, such as hair color, and are also responsible for many diseases. Inheritance of Thalassemia happens purely by chance–there is nothing that parents do, or do not do, that will cause their child to inherit Thalassemia. Thalassemia is never 'caught' by another person in the way that a cold or flu is transmitted. People with Thalassemia disease and trait are born with it. (Source: www.thalassemia.com )

There are two primary types of Thalassemia disease: Alpha Thalassemia disease and Beta Thalassemia disease. There are two main types of Alpha Thalassemia disease. Alpha Thalassemia Major is a very serious disease in which severe anemia begins even before birth and survival past the first few hours of life is rare. Pregnant women carrying affected fetuses are themselves at risk for serious pregnancy and delivery complications. Another type of Alpha Thalassemia is Hemoglobin H disease which Bananaz inherited and considered very unfortunate but then lucky 不辛中之大辛 *bù xīn zhòng zhī dà xīn* to have inherited HbH and not Alpha Thalassemia Major or Beta Thalassemia disease else I am afraid there will not be any Bananaz typing here but long dead and gone. (Source : www.thalassemia.com)

With my hemoglobin (Hb) reading then at 116 g/L (average for male is 130-180 g/L) it will drop as years go by and currently at 109 g/L, my doctor's advice is to stay away from high grounds because of my HbH disease as the supply of oxygen will be thinner and Bananaz would have a huge problem grasping for breath. Did I follow instructions obediently? Nope! What an awesome feeling watching sunrise on top of Mt Kinabalu. “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” ~ Walter Bagehot. Nothing to worry about Alpha Thalassemia minor with no treatment required and Bananaz will be just as normal like everybody else except pale and sallow.

Alpha thalassemias occur most commonly in persons from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, and in those of African descent. Beta thalassemias occur in persons of Mediterranean origin, and to a lesser extent, Chinese, other Asians, and African Americans.

Is my daughter lucky enough to be in the 25% as illustrated in the chart above to escape inheriting the HbH disease? Stay tuned for Part 2..

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இ Random facts III Part 2 - Blind Leading The Blind

Mango requested me to put my left hand on the tooth brush and raise my right hand and repeat after her. "I, Bananaz swear to brush the tooth, the whole tooth, nothing but the tooth...with the right tooth brush". Bananaz would rather sing 'I swear by the tooth and the brush in the sky and I swear..' *Just kidding*.  Mango is worried after I get off the bed with sleepy eyes might grab the wrong tooth brush. For the benefit of those with CVD, mine is the orange *after been told its orange* tooth brush and hers is the yellow oops grrreenn one which Mango tied with a rubber band.

Bananaz is singing two decades ago? Nope! Theme for the company dinner is 'RED', just wear anything in red ~ socks, shoes, tie, bow or scarf etc. By now many would have guess or know the answer. Bananaz was singled out by our GM for his outstanding colours asking why he dares to be different by not wearing RED? OMG...!!!!What! Am I not wearing RED? 

Thank you guys for all your kind and encouraging words that CVD or colour blindness is merely a mild disability and Bananaz survived all these years 'blindlessly'. Have been counting my blessings and very grateful for what I am today. Ever wonder how is it like to be short of one sense and living in total darkness?

Recently participated in the Lion's Annual Charity Walk called 'Blind Leading The Blind' which is into the 8th year now to get a feel of what life is all about with only darkness. That's the cheeky Bananaz blind folded with Mango's spectacles.

Better watch out we have three ferocious Lioness on the Loose, but in the Club they are better known as nice and friendly Lions. Wait a minute for lottery punters you might have something in common here. The Charity Walk with almost 2000 paxz started half an hour late at 8:30Hrs from Civic Center, Petaling Jaya with a journey of 3KM blind walk. Half the participants would be blind folded and the other half would lead the 'blind'.

There are two distinctive experiences Bananaz would like to share here is when we started to walk out to the main road all of a sudden there is an immense scorching heat like a hair dryer blowing hot air unto Bananaz's face. Thought I was standing next to the compressor of an air conditioner until I cannot wait to ask Mango. It was actually the heat of the sun and because we do not see the rays of the sun therefore our mind keep guessing what is the cause of the heat.

The second experience is on smell. Mango's intention was to lead me close to a jasmine plant to see if the aroma's of the flowers would filled up my nose but instead the smell of fried chicken at the roadside stall was drawn in much faster and stronger than jasmine flowers. It means to say with our eyes closed our other senses with touch and smell will be amplified many folds. Not using much of my hearing though merely noted and only guessed what kind of transport passed me by, like is it a bus, a motor bike or a car for I was concentrating on the walking.

Walking blindly is tough but the one leading is more tougher. She got to tell you to slow down, faster, stop, lift your left leg onto the curb walk then step down, crossing the road now, careful road not even and etc. How about joining the walk next year to feel, smell and hear for yourself.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. ~ Denis Waitley

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