Archive for July, 2008

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Not Superman, Superband!

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Okay, it’s official: A-yue gets the coolest gigs. Four years ago he was invited to tour the United States with shows in the House of Blues in ten cities, known as the “Kill Kitty” Tour. (He gets bonus points on that one for taking a stand against Hello Kitty-ness.) He’s got this whole WNP Tour coming up this fall, starting with the MTV international broadcast.

Then, at the Golden Melody Awards this year, Mandopop veterans Lo Ta-yu (羅大佑), Jonathan Lee (李宗盛), and Emil/Wakin Chau (周華健) performed together, and apparently they found the experience addictive. Though up until now they have all had their own, independent music careers, they decided to form a “superband” – in the grand tradition of groups like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Yong or the Traveling Wilburys – and put out a record… and they asked A-yue to join them, to create interest with a younger crowd.

The guys joked that 34-year-old A-yue, on whom I now officially have a hopeless crush, 48-year-old Emil, 50-year-old Jonathan, and 56-year-old Ta-yu together have close to 200 years of life experience – more than enough for an album of songs. Emil joked about having listened to the other guys’ music growing up, a point which A-yue seconded, leaving poor Jonathan and Ta-yue to say that they listened to someone’s music growing up as well. When asked who would be band leader, they dissembled, saying they’d just work out their differences democratically.

Their new superband has been named for the western rail line in Taiwan (the Chinese name is 縱貫線; I’m not sure if they’ll transliterate that to Zongguan Xian, be “Western Line” in English or something else entirely), and they plan to release an album… they joked that they’d be submitting it for best album and best band consideration. When asked who they considered their greatest competition for such prizes, Jonathan Lee immediately replied, Mayday and sodagreen! Naturally. :)

The mention of sodagreen immediately brought Lo Ta-yu in for some teasing about his having read their name backwards at the Golden Melody Awards, but A-yue was also teased about the fact that he famously once mooned his audience in a concert. (Hmm, I see no objections to this from where I’m sitting…) His elders in the music industry assured him that he would be welcome to repeat that performance any time he pleases, noting as well that they would be willing to join him, but… well, doing so at this age won’t exactly get them any girls. Heh. Lo Ta-yu also joked that the whole “superband” idea was born after an evening together drinking a dozen bottles of wine… something they appear to be recreating in this picture. But hey, if they come up with an idea this intriguing after that much drinking, I’d say they should partake more often – this will be an interesting CD.

In personal news, I’m moving this week, so I won’t be posting much. I’ll catch up on any news I miss when the ugly part of the packing is behind me.

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue) | 2 Comments »

Dynamic duos

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

I have to say, the Cowboy-Superhero Showdown is proving to be a bit of a nail-biter. I had wondered if I had driven away almost everyone remotely supportive of Cowboy Jay by virtue of my recent rants, but that appears not to be the case, and I’m glad. Either that, or the loyalty of Leehom followers has wavered at yet another display of poor fashion sense. Anyway, voting remains open, so weigh in if you have not already.

Now for another dynamic duo. American band Linkin Park is playing a charity show in Shanghai on October 12, and they were looking for an influential and popular Asian band to join them, so they have invited Mayday to perform. This is how Mayday got to know Glay way back in the day, so it represents a new breakthrough to have a band from the U.S. (I’m hoping for video of their awkward green room conversations…) The two bands would share the performance, playing for about ninety minutes each, and perhaps even take the stage together for a song or two. Um, trying to picture that… Nope, I’ve got nothing. Anyway, the concert will be at the 80,000 Person Stadium, and followed up the next weekend with a second show in Beijing.

Back in 2003, Stone, Masa and Guanyou went to hear Linkin Park play in Korea, and they brought with them a couple of nice presents and made, apparently, a very good impression. When they received the invitation to join Linkin Park in the concert, they immediately jumped at the chance, though they remain in studio lock-down as they work on the new album. The concert is called, “Music knows no borders, Love knows no boundaries (樂無疆、愛無界).” The proceeds of the show will benefit victims of the Sichuan Earthquake. That article also claims that the World Bank has offered to match donations at the show.

Let me just say, though, that things like this are exactly why Mayday should be wary about taking on all these cartoon character advertisements – the pictures with this article create a very stark contrast between the two bands, and Mayday looks a bit like they headline a Saturday morning children’s show staring people in giant animal costumes.

In other Mayday news, Masa has been drafted into service for a new MV from Ding Dang. The planned video for her song “Unguessable (猜不透)” called for a guy with piano skills, and remembering Masa to be capable (plus probably easy to get given the whole “Mayday owns B’in Music” thing), he was pulled in. The MV had a very serious tone, but every time she’d look at Masa, Ding Dang would start to laugh – she said that he’s just so funny generally, that even a glance into his eyes makes her giggle. I bet this took a long time to shoot, if that’s the case! Anyway, Ding Dang apparently can play piano as well, so she suggested that she and Masa should do a piano duet sometime. That might be fun to watch, especially if she can’t stop laughing.

The full video is here. Watch that video, and then wonder about the photo that accompanied the article… what’s *that* from? Not the MV, that’s for sure… Amusing, the most popular comment on the MV so far is the one that says Masa’s hair is too long. I think everyone on both sides of the Pacific is now in agreement on this point. On the bright side, I think Ding Dang looks much better without bangs. See? Sometimes I say nice things about people’s hair. Not often, I grant you, but sometimes.

Discuss Linkin Park, Ding Dang’s music, or Masa’s hair at the MaydayAmericas Forum.

Posted in Mayday | 7 Comments »

Superhero vs. Cowboy: The Showdown

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

A favorite pastime in the Mandopop world is playing the Jay vs. Leehom game. You know, who’s better, more talented, a better performer, a better composer, has a better personality, etc. Opinions vary widely, and debates are often fraught with emotion. It’s all a little silly, actually, because as Leehom noted recently, just because you buy Jay’s album, that doesn’t mean you can’t also buy his (as I have done two of the last three years). And really in the end there’s no accounting for personal taste. So that said… let’s compare them anyway.

While promoting the Taipei concerts that will kick off a new world tour, Leehom was asked recently about Cowboy Jay’s new “batmobile” (i.e. a million-plus dollar Mercedes-Benz that apparently can’t be driven many places in Taiwan… but I’m sorry, a silver car with doors that open vertically? Who else’s mind immediately jumps to “Marty McFly,” not “Batman?”). The question was whether this new car made said cowboy the natural rival of his own “Music-Man,” and Leehom answered that actually, he and Jay are on the same side; they are both fighting against shared enemies, pirated CDs and DVDs. When pushed to name a person as an enemy, he evasively answered, “People who make bad or low-quality music, then.” (Just pause for a minute and think of all the catty things I could say here, then admire my saint-like restraint.)

But this question, and a very insightful comment the other day from Ling, raises an important point worth exploring further, namely, Cowboy vs. Superhero: who wins?

There are really two different, yet equally important lines of inquiry here: first is the issue of wardrobe, or as Ling so aptly put it, who looks the least silly in his promotional photos. The second issue is more fundamental: who wins in a fight, Leehom “Music-Man, but my name ain’t Harold” Wang, or Cowboy Jay “I’m really very busy” Chou? Let’s get into it. [Disclaimer: no I don't expect them to actually fight. They are both talented artists who have expressed a great deal of respect and admiration for one another... blah, blah, blah... can we have fun now?]

Now, I don’t blame Leehom for idolizing superheroes in his youth or for admitting to having had the Superhero Underoos, largely because I spent considerable time in the early 1980s running around my neighborhood in a leotard and moon boots pretending to be Wonder Woman. The questionable factor is the outfit circa 2008: you can tell they went for edgy and modern, which apparently translates to black leather and blue hair. He says they are trying to evoke a futuristic feeling, though he does this while standing in front of the poster looking like he’s on his way to an 80s revival party:

Leehom channels his inner George Michael

Okay, what about this look (the one on the poster, not the personal tribute to Wham!) says “superhero” and not “biker dude”? Maybe he’ll have a nifty heroic emblem stitched across his front (all the great ones do, you know). Beyond that, you have to wonder just how this look translates to staging a concert. Is there any possible way for him to act out some sort of superhero drama on stage that doesn’t ultimately and rather tragically detract from the music? I know from personal experience that Leehom is too good live to need gimmicks, and this is a pretty big one.

On the other hand, though the outfit so far might be somewhat unconvincing, and his hair both too long and inexplicably blue, does he actually look silly? As in cowboy silly? I mean, look:

Cowboy Jay

Then remember the Cowboy in action. The chaps, the cravats… at various intervals, the excessive fringe. Now that’s silly. You might argue it is intentionally silly, but very silly nonetheless. And this was no fleeting concert ploy; Jay’s cowboy phase will live on for posterity in the form of his album cover and the Howdy-Doodyesque opening track, “Cowboys are Busy.” He’ll be Cowboy Jay forever, whereas the Music-Man thing will fade from Leehom memories after this latest world tour.

Now as important as the wardrobe is to these gimmicks, there remains the question… who takes whom in a fight? It is common knowledge that ninjas and pirates beat cowboys, but what about superheroes? Especially superheroes whose special secret superpower is music and whose coolest special secret superhero gadget is a guitar, albeit a guitar named “Bahamut” for a dragon in the Final Fantasy video game. (Yes, of course I had to look that up. Just how much free time do you think I have?) At the same time, though, Leehom is spending the next month in the gym to improve the “superhero” quality of his physique, including well-defined abs (something he has displayed before – and can I just tell you how much I love the fact that you can search “sweaty shirtless boxing” on YouTube and get this video – but then voluntarily abandoned it to look like a guy surviving the rice shortage in World War II). Hmm, maybe I really approve of this whole Superhero thing after all.

In the other corner, you have Cowboy Jay. If we are to put stock in his lyrics, then we know him to be a milk-drinking, donkey-riding, pleather-wearing, bubble-bath-taking pacifist. In other words, he sounds like a real pushover. And like he’s not a lot of fun. On the other hand, the Russian-style dancing in the video for “Cowboys are busy” takes very strong thigh muscles. If provoked enough, this cowboy wouldn’t discharge his six-shooter, but he just might go into a frenzied dance right in front of you that is equally life-threatening. Or maybe he’ll throw his milkshake at you. What does milk do to superhero leather?

So adding up these elements, you really have to consider who looks better in costume, and weigh that alongside personal qualities and assorted props. Then put them both in a ring and sound the bell.

In a superhero/cowboy showdown, who emerges triumphant?
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Posted in Leehom Wang, Mandopop | 14 Comments »

Olympic contests and concerts

Monday, July 21st, 2008

This summer, the world has the Olympics on the brain. Joining in on the fever, Taiwan Taxi company is starting a new promotion: every time you ride in one of their taxis between now and the end of the month, you can win a chance to go to Beijing for the Olympics. Even if you don’t win that grand prize, between August 1st and 3rd there are the “Olympics Get the Gold Concerts,” and you could win a VIP ticket.

Hmph. Suddenly I’m feeling discontent with the level of service my local taxi companies provide.

Anyway, taxis can be hailed on the street, or ordered online or via cell phone, and all rides between now and July 30 count. The winner will receive a roundtrip plane ticket from Taipei to Beijing (ooooh, is this one of the new nonstop flights? I CANNOT WAIT to take one. Seriously. I’m trying to invent an excuse :) ).

As for that concert prize, artists performing at the event include Jolin Tsai, Fish Leong, Chang Chen-yue, Cheer Chen, Cherry Boom, Xiao Huang-chi (蕭煌奇), and others. There’s also an amusement park and a variety of related activities. Winning one of a limited number of VIP cards will ensure a great time at the concerts… and a safe ride home at the end.

In addition to these activities, they’ll be running a second promotion in August, in which people riding in their taxis will have an opportunity to win a trip to Beijing for the Paralympic Games, which take place September 7 -17.

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Fish Leong, Mandopop and the Olympics | 5 Comments »

Pick-a-little, talk-a-little

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

(Sorry, still in a Music Man kind of mood.) Yeah, I’ve got a whole little collection of articles that I don’t have time to discuss in length, but which probably merit some discussion. So a list we shall have:

  • Ding Dang and Champion are touring together, promoting each other and the Open-chan CD. Drummer Xiao Hou was talked into a bikini at one stop, though that is really not a mental image I wanted to have. For her own concerts, she’s inviting people she has worked with – Mayday, Victor Wang, and A-yue – to be special guests. Apparently some mainland fans on the message boards have been less than welcoming of Ding Dang and said things about how she should stop “pestering” Mayday, but fans in Taiwan are proving more open. I would think that any fan can see that it is Mayday promoting her, not her trailing after Mayday, but whatever. On the other hand, maybe they are spending a little too much time together: is it just me, or does Ding Dang appear to be wearing denim suspenders in this photograph?
  • I’ll tell you what Taiwan fans are complaining about: it’s that this new advertising campaign that Mayday has done for the mall in Kaohsiung is using such an old song (“Loneliness Terminator (終結孤單)”). Get ready to be shocked by this, but that song is now eight years old. I know, I know. How did that happen?
  • Leehom may or may not be singing a duet with new SonyBMG mainland artist Wei Jiaqing (魏佳慶). No, I’m not sure why this is news either, but I’ve happened across several articles on it by now so I thought I’d mention it. He is supposed to have an album coming out at some point – I’m not sure when, but there were reports that he was squirreled away in production this spring – so if he’s not too busy with his newfound superhero duties perhaps he’ll release it.
  • Sodagreen is endorsing LG cell phones. Sometimes I think that it would be easier if we didn’t categorize musicians by music labels, but by cell phone endorsements（sodagreen=LG, Mayday=BenQ, Leehom=Sony Ericsson, Cowboy Jay=Motorola, Stanley Huang=Samsung… who does Nokia?). But in all seriousness, that’s a pretty big deal for a band that was very indie and very underground not all that long ago. Their star is clearly on the rise.
  • Speaking of musical theater (I was, sort of obliquely, in the last post), sodagreen will be appearing in a special two day production of “Turn Left, Turn Right (向左走‧向右走)” at Taipei Arena during this year’s Taipei Arts Festival. They actually halved their appearance fee to do the show. The Jimmy book has been a movie and a television series, but this time it will be a musical. That should be a great time, though the venue seems really odd. (Random Mayday trivia alert: in the series version, there was a scene in a park in which the characters happen upon a guy or a band playing Mayday songs. I saw it flipping through channels in China a few years ago and for some stupid reason remembered it now.)
  • The new Mayday song for the Open Your Heart album from 7-Eleven’s Open-chan is now out. My first reaction was sorta “meh.” I hope it is not also on their next album…

    • Okay, time to go do real work. Like packing… I’m moving in something ridiculous like ten or eleven days, but you wouldn’t know it to look around here. *sigh*

    Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Leehom Wang, Mandopop, Mayday, Sodagreen | 5 Comments »

    Leehom’s got trouble

    Thursday, July 17th, 2008

    Oh yes he’s got trouble… with a capital “T” that rhymes with “P” that stands for “publicity.”

    On September 19th and 20th, Leehom’s wagon will be a’coming into Taipei Arena for two concerts. That’s right, not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York or Rome, but Taipei Arena. Now, Leehom was a big fan of American superheroes growing up. He liked to read comic books about Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Ironman and so forth, so for this concert, he’s going to dress up as “Music Man.”

    Sounds like a great comic book, actually; I could see this “Music Man” as maybe… a traveling salesman by day, who turns into the “Music Man.” He’d have to have a love interest, of course, perhaps a librarian named “Marian.” For the concert poster, he dressed in leather with silver armor, had his hair dyed blue and silver, and held a special guitar designed by the famed Irish designer Alistair. (Which all sounds really hard to picture – it is some sort of white knight getup? But no, all black – you can see a picture here.)

    To ensure a perfect performance, he’s bringing in all kinds of lights and sound equipment, in addition to music, wonderful roses, and sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew. There are rumors that the band will include seventy-six trombones and a hundred and ten cornets, but as yet unconfirmed. I’ll keep you posted.

    Posted in Leehom Wang | 13 Comments »

    Take me out to the ball game

    Thursday, July 17th, 2008

    Yes, there is MORE baseball news. Not content with only promoting the Chinese Professional Baseball League, Mayday is now promoting the Chinese Taipei Olympic Baseball Team. They came at this in a slightly roundabout way, though, as it’s really BenQ that made the decision to sponsor the team, and Mayday is, of course, the spokesman for BenQ.

    As the games approach, companies are scrambling to get involved and show their support for the athletes and thereby earn the affections of the consumers. The head of BenQ Taiwan noted that the Taiwanese people have a special affinity for baseball. It’s also one of the favorite sports in Taiwan, and historically one of Chinese Taipei’s most successful sports at the Olympics. He also noted that personally, he does not care if the Chinese Taipei team gets the gold in the end, as long as they beat Korea and Japan. These are the two key rivalries, it seems.

    BenQ has a couple of innovations that it is introducing to improve service. It now has a “two shores, four territories” policy in which items purchased in Taiwan, the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau can also be serviced in any of these locations, which is much more convenient for people who travel between them a lot. They’re also giving away cameras to customers who buy big ticket electronics, savings coupons will also double in value each time the Chinese Taipei team beats either Japan or Korea in the Olympics; if they beat both, savings will triple. Beyond this, they’re releasing new flat-screen television sets and other new electronics.

    Of course, all of these “超韓勝日 (surpass Korea, defeat Japan)” activities will be supported by their spokesmen, Mayday. BenQ and Mayday have been cooperating since 2005. This year, the band will hold ten separate BenQ campus performances in Taiwan starting in November, and after that the activities will move to the mainland to visit 10 major cities. (And all this while they’re still trying to finish the album? If it didn’t have a very clear “this year” I would assume it was about the last BenQ campus tour, a year and a half ago.) So, essentially, I had it all wrong; I thought the China-Chinese Taipei match-up was going to be the one to watch, but it seems that Taiwan is not looking to that (perhaps because the odds are firmly in their favor there) and instead looking north. Less than a month to go!

    Posted in Mandopop and the Olympics, Mayday | No Comments »

    Vote for Mayday: 2008 MTV Asia Awards

    Sunday, July 13th, 2008

    Wei Jie in Malaysia sent me this handy voting link, in the hope that we could “combine our east and western power” to support the band. It’s a great idea (thanks, Wei Jie!!).

    To vote for Mayday, just go to this page and click on “vote.” No registration required… voting continues until July 25 (I’m a little unclear how this works, but when you use that page to vote, it says your vote is counted; when you go through the rest of the site, it asks you to register. I almost never bother registering for these things, so I hadn’t voted yet, but this way works for me). You can vote every ten minutes, but … well, I’m sure you also have other things to do too. I say just vote when you feel like it; I’m sure the fan clubs for all the nominees have already figured out how to flood the system with automatic votes. :P

    If you are feeling unmotivated, think of it this way: they are up against S.H.E, Show Luo and Jolin. Do you really want any of those three beating out Mayday? Okay, so one of them probably will beat out Mayday in the end, but do you really want to live with the guilt of not having voted when they do? (Okay, *pretend* you’d feel guilty if that happened, and then act accordingly.)

    Posted in Mayday | 1 Comment »

    All I can say is… *sigh*

    Friday, July 11th, 2008

    From Wednesday’s promotion of the new Open-chan album:

    Open-chan and Mayday

    It’s been almost a year. A year of those damn suspenders. I first noticed them in August, but actually I think they were concert-wear as early as last July. And he still wears them around 80% of the time. How has he not worn out these pants yet? Are they made of some fancy new indestructible denim? Is he on some sort of extended protest of the modern consumer society in which purchasing new pants is strictly forbidden? Has he joined some sort of denim-worshiping cult in which the one cardinal rule is that one must never remove The Pants? Are they sewn onto his body so all other pants he wears are simply worn over them? Have they replaced his legs? Most importantly, is there ANY way at all to get a spy into the inner depths of the B’in Music company structure to cut them off already???

    In other news, I can’t help but think that for a rock band, Mayday spends an awful lot of time hanging out with cartoon characters (at least they’re still making time for the beer festival, so someone in the band still has his priorities straight). Also, Masa’s hair is now not only too long, but downright girly… he looks a bit like he borrowed Guanyou’s curling iron. This is not a positive development.

    The band is promoting the new “Open-chan” album, for which it is taking pre-orders now and which will be out at the end of the month. Expect a lot of events this week, as the 7-Eleven cartoon mascot’s birthday is today, for obvious reasons. In the meantime, Mayday has put off their own album, saying that they don’t like to rush these things; it will be done when it is done. They are still talking about September, but don’t hold your breath or anything.

    Talking about the funky new 7-Eleven album, they explained that Mayday has a new song on it, as does Champion. (Okay, that’s already at least 4 new advertising songs this year. Now be honest: who else is going to be completely annoyed if the new album comes out at these make up 40% of the tracks?) Fish Leong and Victor Wong have contributed, though they provide no details on that. Beyond this, Won Fu covers “Love-ing (恋爱ING),” 831 and Cosmos People (宇宙人) cover “Loneliness Terminator (终结孤单)” and “Crazy World (疯狂世界).” Mayday and Won Fu apparently get along pretty well, even to the point that once Mayday thought they’d lost a drumset, but finally they discovered that they’d loaned it to Won Fu and forgot to get it back.

    Compared to this, the level of cooperation between Mayday and sodagreen has been minimal, leading people to question whether there’s bad blood between them. Ashin tried to clarify that this is not actually the case; he said, “I know Qing, have always admired him.” (I love the shortened name. I wonder what Qingfeng calls him? Just “Shin” is taken…) He went on to joke, “And Mayday’s bass player likes their bass player!” Hmm, Masa and Xinyi? I can see it, actually, though not until Masa gets a haircut. Maybe she could convince him…

    Anyway, as long as we’re talking about sodagreen, Lo Ta-yu was so embarrassed about his big foot-in-mouth moment at the GMA where he misread sodagreen’s name that he took the whole band plus Will Lin out to dinner, his treat. After an awkward moment while waiting for the elevator when the lobby tv was showing clips of him misreading the name, they opened a few bottles of wine and had a lovely time talking about music, the world, and everything in between.

    Finally (and back to Mayday), if you’ve been looking for good quality skull-and-crossbones themed clothing for your infant or toddler – and really, who hasn’t – look no further than BabyRock. Yup, that’s right, Stone and Gougou now have an infant clothing line. Not to mention a one-year-old with a distinctively punk style. Somehow, I can’t see Guanyou dressing up Little Rose in the pink version (erm, is that a cartoon rabbit with a cigarette in its mouth? Um…). [Thanks to Ellie for the Babyrock links!]

    Posted in Mayday, Sodagreen | 4 Comments »

    A-yue on the road

    Thursday, July 10th, 2008

    A-yue and his band, Free 9, will be holding a major concert in Taipei on August 23rd (ticketing here). For A-yue, performing in Taiwan means he can sing all of his songs for a change (his catalog is heavily censored on the mainland, and some songs are also censored in Singapore and Malaysia), as well as invite MC Hotdog and Patty Hou to sing with him. The concert will then be broadcast on the MTV program, “MTV Live.” The plan is to broadcast it in Asia, Europe and North America (so, you know, watch your television listings…). A-yue has explained that the concert won’t feature flashy costumes or elaborate sets, just him and the band giving it everything they’ve got.

    After the televised concert, he takes off on a ten city tour of the mainland, visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Shenyang, Dalian, and Chongqing.

    The theme of the show and name of the tour is “Work N Play,” coincidentally the name of the clothing label he and a friend started in Hong Kong in January (there’s an English-language site here, but I have to say it took me a long time to figure out that A-yue’s new label was not a music label. That whole thing about working with other artists and crossovers and so forth threw me for a loop). When asked about his GMA loss of the “best lyrics” award to Vincent Fang, A-yue said it didn’t matter – that his lyrics have never been as good as Vincent’s anyway. I’d actually argue with him here: there are times when that heartfelt clarity of A-yue is better than the occasionally overly literary Vincent. I’m still somewhat irrationally hoping for a new album from A-yue sometime soon, though he hasn’t mentioned one beyond saying last year that he had more songs ready than he put on OK. Depending on how long this tour takes, however, it could be next year or later before we see him back on the charts.

    Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue) | No Comments »

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