THE AMERICAN SOUTH

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hey y'all,

just curious if there any others originally from, living in, or familiar with the american south.

i live in mississippi, and i was born here.

i'm sure there are plenty of scathing opinions, but maybe some folks have had good times here?

race relations obviously are a bit fucked, but i think that's getting a lot better. in some cases, the terrifying aspects of our past can lead folks to be more conscious about stereotypes and genuinely work to bridge gaps. in other cases, prejudice is still intense. (of course, i've seen that all over the world, not just the south.)

on the positive side, i do think southern hospitality is a real thing. and literature, music, and food here is terrific.

thoughts, anyone?

akaky akakievich, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 02:52 (fifteen years ago)

I don't hate the South! i don't i don't i don't

that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 02:57 (fifteen years ago)

http://southside.k12.ar.us/sms/uploads/images/Library/southern%20hospitality%20(3).jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 02:58 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.oxygenee.com/images/Southern-Hospitality-54KB.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 02:59 (fifteen years ago)

http://pic.aebn.net/Stream/Movie/Boxcovers/a79469_xlf.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 02:59 (fifteen years ago)

i am from the north and i think the south is interesting. not just as a curiosity, like i would consider living there. southerners are not the only racists in america!

harbl, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:02 (fifteen years ago)

I know when I think of the south, the first think that comes to mind is SPORTSMANSHIP.

everyone stop (dan m), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:02 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.mindspring.com/~dmerriman/DilrdF1.JPG

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:02 (fifteen years ago)

oh yeah i don't think i could handle southern food though :(

harbl, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:03 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.ryeflorida.org/images/2006-07/Inbounds/frederik/SouthernFoodIsDelicious.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:03 (fifteen years ago)

Mobile, Alabama holla

moron oil (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:04 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.aminglingoftastes.com/uploaded_images/IMG_5270-764039.JPG

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:04 (fifteen years ago)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/380124814_01836ae725_b.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:05 (fifteen years ago)

i keep being told that i don't count but fuck yall i'm from texas

what u think i steen for to push a crawfish? (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:05 (fifteen years ago)

http://gothamist.com/attachments/goth_hugh/2008_11_m&g_diner.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:07 (fifteen years ago)

I love that dude eating his okra.

look at my plastron (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:07 (fifteen years ago)

As a non South(east)erner, okra's something I have never understood.

look at my plastron (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:08 (fifteen years ago)

you might not to try it in gumbo first, then move onto fried.

moron oil (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:09 (fifteen years ago)

need to try it*

moron oil (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:10 (fifteen years ago)

my grandma was from the south and I am the first member of my family to live in the south since she left it circa 1912 and I am never leaving because it is awesome and the people who hate on it don't really know but that's all right because if they came and hung out they would feel the love and they are always welcome and sure there's some parts that are weird but where is that not true of, I have been weirded out way harder in the rust belt than I've ever felt down here so in conclusion hell yes, the south, I know where you people who look at those red state blue state maps are coming from but there's more to it than that.

been to mississippi twice I think and had a good time both times.

a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:13 (fifteen years ago)

louisiana and tennessee and missouri contain some of my favorite places on earth

what u think i steen for to push a crawfish? (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:14 (fifteen years ago)

my boyz made Tim Tebow CRY

moron oil (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:15 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.ameliaclark.com/trans-down_south.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:15 (fifteen years ago)

Here is how I make okra. It is not slimy at all:

Get some fresh okra.
Cut off the stem ends, because they are too fibrous.
Cut the rest of the okra into about 1/2 pieces, give or take.
Heat a T or two of olive oil in a pan.
Add the okra. Sprinkle liberally with salt.
Cook until the okra gets nice and browned.

she is writing about love (Jenny), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:19 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.bouncinballoons.com/Belles_Main/Southern_Belles.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:21 (fifteen years ago)

if you make okra with a madhur jaffrey recipe it will change your life

that's a different south tho

a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:22 (fifteen years ago)

http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/trailoftearshistmarker.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:23 (fifteen years ago)

I was born in Columbus, MS!

Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:23 (fifteen years ago)

http://verlee.tripod.com/SheltonLaurel.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:24 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.ncmarkers.com/Images/markers_600/P-71a.jpg

scott seward, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:26 (fifteen years ago)

akaky, I'm not far from you -- I live in Amory. Used to live in Oxford. Have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the south.

xpost -- I didn't know that, Alfred! Columbus is about 25 miles from me.

WmC, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:26 (fifteen years ago)

J0hn, I love southern fried okra and bindi bhaji equally.

WmC, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:27 (fifteen years ago)

I have this fantasy about moving to Kentucky someday...my grandpa was from there, I guess he's from the original McCrackens that settled McCracken County. That's the kind of a story that makes me feel like I'd belong in a place. I'm applying to grad school at Univ. of Kentucky. We'll see if I get in.

look at my plastron (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:30 (fifteen years ago)

I like boiled okra.

Jeff, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:31 (fifteen years ago)

I can only buy frozen okra here.

look at my plastron (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:32 (fifteen years ago)

good timing on the thread, we're considering a move back southward. this can either remind me of all the reasons to do it or all the reasons not to. (i'm already imagining the first time my kids come home from school crying cuz some jackass classmate told them they're going to hell...)

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:42 (fifteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Pecan_pie_slice.jpg/800px-Pecan_pie_slice.jpg

9. WDYLL (Feat. Nice & Smooth) (los blue jeans), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:43 (fifteen years ago)

I don't think that'll happen, tipsy -- all the really rabid xtians are homeschooled or go to private xtian "academies" now.

Reasons to do it: super cheap cost of living. Fairly mild winters.

Reasons not to do it: not a hell of a lot of culture outside college towns and the largest cities. Hellish humid summers - grow gills or die.

WmC, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:48 (fifteen years ago)

man I love the humidity, I was born to breathe that stuff

gotta say scott's signs make me think "hey, in the south we have signs on every streetcorner admitting to some bullshit that went down here, as against the whitewashing of junipero serra & the missionaries that you see in CA where I grew up"

a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:52 (fifteen years ago)

Oh man humidity brings out my inner pizza face hardcore...can my vanity overcome this???

secret nazirite lion corpse honey (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:54 (fifteen years ago)

most of my thoughts about humidity belong on the ILTMI board tbh

a full circle lol (J0hn D.), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:54 (fifteen years ago)

It also makes me extra sweaty...I basically turn into a gross cartoon character around the stuff.

secret nazirite lion corpse honey (Abbott), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:55 (fifteen years ago)

I don't think that'll happen, tipsy

oh it'll happen, believe me. i mean, it could happen anywhere, but in the bible belt it's pretty much a sure thing. first six months i lived in tennessee i had to figure out what to say when people asked if i'd selected a church yet. when i'm away from it i tend to minimize in my mind how pervasive and aggressive the mainstream culture is (i'm talking specifically southern appalachia here, there are regional variations i know). so it's always a bit of a shock when i go back to visit. otoh, i have lots of friends there and none of them are like that at all. i know from my past experience that you just form your own social networks, like anywhere. the most religious/conservative most of my southern friends get is episcopal npr listeners.

anyway i always sort of enjoyed it myself, the sense of being an embattled liberal minority. the kids give me a little pause, but what the hell. it would probably be good for them. (be good for their southern cousins, too, to know some actual godless liberals...)

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 03:57 (fifteen years ago)

I wouldn't mind the sweating so much if my eyesight was better, but within a few minutes of getting out into the garden, every blink is splashing sweat onto the inside of my glasses. I need some lasik.

first six months i lived in tennessee i had to figure out what to say when people asked if i'd selected a church yet.

I've had pastors come to the door to invite us to their church, but I've never been asked that outside that situation.

WmC, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:02 (fifteen years ago)

Born in Huntsville, AL, lived there until I was 24. I live in FL now, which I actually consider a step down. Lived in Nashville, TN for a few years and it was nice enough. People from all the other states in the south love Mississippi because it gives them a chance to feel superior.

100% agree about the hellish humidity. That's the only thing I could see forcing me to live somewhere besides the south. (Not that I wouldn't relocate by choice, but the humidity might run me out by force someday.)

I'd miss the food. And the iced sweet tea. And the vibe in the air during college football season.

Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:04 (fifteen years ago)

tipsy, where in the south are you thinking of moving?

i think you're right, it'll happen. it certainly happened to me when i went to school there. in my public speaking class in college i got pamphleted during my speeches on john waters and legalization of marijuana. in college!

sorta related: my nephew went to high school in NC. during a mock presidential debate he was assigned the part of obama. when asked by the moderator (the teacher) why people should vote for him, he said something about palin inexperienced. the teacher (moderator) stopped him and chewed him out, arguing on the mccain/palin side.

not that i don't love the south and have something like southern pride (i'm not from there, but i lived there for a long time).

he's a light-hearted snake (Jesse), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:08 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:10 (fifteen years ago)

where in the south are you thinking of moving?

back to knoxville. i lived there for a lot of the '90s, left in '02. my wife's from there and she has a lot of family and we both have a lot of friends. it's a great town, nicely close to the mountains, and we've both always planned to go back eventually. but in contemplating it, i have to remind myself of some of the cultural trade-offs.

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:15 (fifteen years ago)

People from all the other states in the south love Mississippi because it gives them a chance to feel superior.

hahaha, between the delta bluesmen and the literary tradition, I feel like Mississippi has plenty of reasons to feel superior over its neighbors.

WmC, Tuesday, 15 December 2009 04:17 (fifteen years ago)

i grew up in jackson. now i live in taylor, near oxford (hour or so south of memphis).

I wholly endorse Taylor. Underrated is nearby Water Valley. There are some really cool, old well-built homes for considerably cheaper than the insane market prices in Oxford. My folks lived there for about four years when they first moved back to North MS before finally moving back to my dad's hometown of Batseville (Which is a total POS town. Horrible strip mall eyesore imo.)

you want a war on christmas i'll give you a fuckin war on christmas (will), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:11 (fifteen years ago)

xpost Not normally but somehow in the SWELTERING HEAT i found them aggravating like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO YRSELF???

Re: ATL the rockabilly thing was much more annoying than the goth thing.

Thulsa Doob (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:12 (fifteen years ago)

nice casket factory though (xp)

WmC, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:12 (fifteen years ago)

lol poetic

you want a war on christmas i'll give you a fuckin war on christmas (will), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:14 (fifteen years ago)

Goths in heat make me feel hotter than I normally would. Spanish moss is ultra-classic.

he's a light-hearted snake (Jesse), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:18 (fifteen years ago)

as are the live oaks. nothing better than an old ass live oak.

Moreno, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:23 (fifteen years ago)

True/False 'don't handle it, it has lots of tiny mites living in it'?

xpost re spanish moss

Thulsa Doob (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:23 (fifteen years ago)

you like gainesville jon? i've never been but have horrible image of it based on nothing more than that serial killer a while back and FLA football (steve spurrier, tim tebow, ugh).

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:58 (fifteen years ago)

(i ask partly because it's where my department at work is supposedly being outsourced to, and a few people have talked about possibly moving down there.)

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 17:59 (fifteen years ago)

friends of mine say gainesville is pretty great until the tom petty saturation effect

moron oil (Gukbe), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:00 (fifteen years ago)

i have a friend from gainesville and she always made it sound like a wonderful place

being being kiss-ass fake nice (gbx), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:05 (fifteen years ago)

The civic identity there is like pious yupsville hell, and the indie culture is all rockabilly and Coop tattoos and dumb Goth comics.

Oh my gosh, this is it exactly. I lived in Little Five Points, and should have been content and am usually quite pro-Goth, but wow, yeah. I lacked the time, energy, or force of will to maintain a Rockabilly lifestyle and it was too hot for Goth and I actually don't know what a Coop tattoo is, but you're also OTM about pious yupsville hell.

she is writing about love (Jenny), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:29 (fifteen years ago)

Also, the obsession with college football exhausted me, especially when coworkers would act so hurt and puzzled when I couldn't tell them my alma mater's division or conference or how they were performing in a given season.

she is writing about love (Jenny), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:33 (fifteen years ago)

The college football thing in Gainesville was just like this weird parallel universe to me. I tried not to drive around on home game days and other than that I could pretty much ignore it.

Obv there are many jock type ppl in school there, but srsly it is like a liberal and verdant oasis and fully awesome town.

Thulsa Doob (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 18:42 (fifteen years ago)

The civic identity there is like pious yupsville hell, and the indie culture is all rockabilly and Coop tattoos and dumb Goth comics.

I have had lots of fun when I've visited Atlanta, but this is pretty much bursting at the seams with otm.

you want a war on christmas i'll give you a fuckin war on christmas (will), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 19:54 (fifteen years ago)

Charlotte, NC wants to be Atlanta soooo bad. I think it also wants to be L.A. in a way - blond, tan, skinny women with real Coach and Kate Spade bags prevail.

Charlotte is pretty bad b/c every restaurant, bar, and store is a chain.

he's a light-hearted snake (Jesse), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:38 (fifteen years ago)

Spent a weekend in Charlotte and was not bewitched. Would love to experience other parts of NC though.

Thulsa Doob (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 21:41 (fifteen years ago)

yeah i went to see a springsteen show in charlotte and then opted to spend the rest of the weekend in chapel hill.

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:19 (fifteen years ago)

Raleigh is gorgeous though, especially the surrounding country. I have lots of time for the Carolinas. I adore Charleston.

Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:33 (fifteen years ago)

Charlotte sux

krampus activities (latebloomer), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:37 (fifteen years ago)

Charlotte recently got a light rail system.

he's a light-hearted snake (Jesse), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:38 (fifteen years ago)

Charlotte's airport is sweet, though.

Coincidentally, someone posted this on Andrew Sullivan's blog today, in response to open calls for posts about the South:

-- Two things strike me about Charlotte. 1) How it is the embodiment of the excesses of the 1990’s and 2000’s; 2) It has been the shining example of what the South wanted to be. It’s home to the world headquarters of Bank of America; the Wachovia Center, which was going to be the gleaming palace for the 4th largest bank, before it collapsed and was bought up by Wells Fargo. The attention of the world financial collapse is on Wall Street, but in reality, a lot of what happened took place in Charlotte. The culture of this boomtown reflects that. Another corporate boom-time icon you see in Charlotte is the world of NASCAR. Their headquarters hall of fame and the mammoth team facilities are based in Charlotte. With the fall of the economy, many changes have taken place there. You will find a lot of glitzy vacant office complexes, subdivisions meant for 1000 houses with 8 actually built and the other signs of the fall. There are also many out of work bankers driving their Lexus cars to the local amusement park to get part time work. Also, you will find former NASCAR mechanics who have gone from flying on private jets to fix 200 MPH speed machines on national television, to changing oil on some guys Buick Century at Wal-Mart.

Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago)

You know what southern city as a sweet little airport? Greensboro, NC. Love that airport.

she is writing about love (Jenny), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:43 (fifteen years ago)

Actually every other city in NC I hear good/intriguing things about except Charlotte (the only one I've actually been to).

Tobacco + Jesus + Big Banking = Bye.

Thulsa Doob (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:57 (fifteen years ago)

things i miss about the south:

drunk 4-yr-old crossdressers stealing my christmas presents

hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Friday, 18 December 2009 03:56 (fifteen years ago)

proof that memphis is in mississippi:

http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us/ms

akaky akakievich, Wednesday, 23 December 2009 23:12 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

Is there a thread on the floods and the rising Mississippi?

curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:16 (fourteen years ago)

I don't think so.

Saw this this morning: May 6th last year and May 6th this year.

http://memphisflood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/missrv_amo_2010125.jpg
http://memphisflood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/missrv_amo_2011125.jpg

Stomp! in the name of love (WmC), Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:22 (fourteen years ago)

Posted this the other day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKsehkcIF8

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:28 (fourteen years ago)

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2011/05/mississippi-river-flooding-spares-some-tourist-areas-threatens-others/169848/1

About 45 minutes south of Memphis, however, nine riverfront casinos remain shuttered indefinitely in Tunica, Miss. They're among 19 Mississippi casinos and 6,700-plus hotel rooms expected to be shut down by the weekend, and could remain closed for up to a month.

curmudgeon, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:31 (fourteen years ago)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5694340455_5bce811eb6.jpg

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:33 (fourteen years ago)

Saw a funny headline about Tunica the other day. Like "Millions lost at Mississippi casinos." Now I can't find it for proof.

andrew m., Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:44 (fourteen years ago)

Something about a dark half-flooded casino floor filled with cottonmouths swimming at roulette level pleases me for some reason.

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:58 (fourteen years ago)

that moat has blown my mind. what kind of illicit and/or extremely heavy possessions do you have to possess in order to opt for HOMEMADE LEVEE AND MOAT CONSTRUCTION as opposed to something like insurance or moving?

del griffith, Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:03 (fourteen years ago)

hope akaky akakievich found some high ground

buzza, Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:10 (fourteen years ago)

pride is an extremely heavy possession

Stomp! in the name of love (WmC), Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:10 (fourteen years ago)

xxxp You know, I think you just have to be cussed.

Back up the lesbian canoe (Laurel), Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:13 (fourteen years ago)

The moat from above:

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/9536/themoataerial.jpg

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:15 (fourteen years ago)

http://i.imgur.com/BGcc4.gif

Pleasant Plains, Friday, 13 May 2011 15:30 (fourteen years ago)

hahaha fuck yeah

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 13 May 2011 16:18 (fourteen years ago)

(I don't think that's the south, but it's still lol.)

Pleasant Plains, Friday, 13 May 2011 16:22 (fourteen years ago)

yeah that guy otm

\(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Friday, 13 May 2011 16:23 (fourteen years ago)

While some farms in the cotton-, rice- and corn-growing Delta are prosperous, there is also grinding poverty. Nine of the 11 counties that touch the Mississippi River in Mississippi have poverty rates at least double the national average of 13.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the Memphis, Tenn., area, where the Mississippi crested on Tuesday just inches short of the 1927 record, many of the flooded dwellings were mobile homes and one-story brick or wood buildings in low-lying, working-class neighborhoods unprotected by floodwalls or levees. from the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-cresting-in-memphis-flooded-mississippi-river-takes-aim-at-poverty-stricken-delta/2011/05/11/AFY2XwnG_story_1.html

curmudgeon, Friday, 13 May 2011 16:45 (fourteen years ago)

My suggested reading for the month is RISING TIDE, about how engineers have been trying to control the Mississippi River, the impact of the river on race relations, and the pros and cons of civilian versus military control of the river. If you're interested about how and why some of the stuff going on is happening, (levees destroyed by the Corps of Engineers, the Morganza Spillway, why the river is routed the way it is) I highly recommend it.

Pleasant Plains, Friday, 13 May 2011 16:56 (fourteen years ago)

US Army engineers have opened a major Louisiana floodgate to ease pressure from the swollen Mississippi River, hoping to save cities by sacrificing small towns and farmland that face historic flooding.

The worst floods to hit the central US in more than 70 years have already swallowed up thousands of homes, farms and roads and the mighty river is expected to remain above flood stage for many more days.

The US Army Corps of Engineers opened a single bay at the key Morganza Spillway on Saturday (local time), allowing a relatively small amount of the river through.

It marks the first time the spillway has been opened since 1973, and only the second time since its completion in 1954.

"This is certainly going to be a marathon and not a sprint," Major General Michael Walsh told a press conference, noting the "tremendous pressure on the entire system".

curmudgeon, Saturday, 14 May 2011 22:06 (fourteen years ago)

How high's the water, Mama?

Crazed Mister Handy (kingfish), Friday, 20 May 2011 14:43 (fourteen years ago)

those pictures are terrifying.

The New Dirty Vicar, Friday, 20 May 2011 15:13 (fourteen years ago)


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