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Recent Posts
- Artist Profile: Esprit Orchestra Conductor Alex Pauk
- An Article about the music I wrote and performed during Hurricane Sandy
- Music I composed and recorded Live during Hurricane Sandy
- HD Video Interview with Vivian Reiss in her amazing artist’s garden in Toronto. 16 Foot tall corn!
- My Music: video and audio files on the web
- Artist Profile: The ‘Mix Tape’ New Music Pianist Vicky Chow
- Joel Garten in Concert, October 10, 2012 at Gallery 345, Toronto
- Cathedral in Astorga, Spain
- Toronto Travel: 5 Great Summer Outings
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Artist Profile: Esprit Orchestra Conductor Alex Pauk
Artist Profile: Esprit Orchestra Conductor Alex Pauk By Joel Garten. Published on the Huffington Post. See my author archive for the article. Alex Pauk has been for decades a strenuous supporter of new music in Canada, and for thirty years … Continue reading
An Article about the music I wrote and performed during Hurricane Sandy
The writer Colin Cronin has written an article about the music I composed and performed during Hurricane Sandy, on the website String Visions “This is a truly remarkable story. To visualize how in the midst of destruction and chaos, one … Continue reading
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Tagged article, avant garde, hurrincane sandy. music, toronto
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Music I composed and recorded Live during Hurricane Sandy
An Article I published on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-garten/hurricane-classical-music_b_2054102.html During Hurricane Sandy, I heard the howling of the wind and the driving rain outside my studio in Toronto. Sandy was hitting Toronto hard, and I was surveying the scenes of the … Continue reading
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Tagged avant garde, composed, composer, composition, hurricane, hurricane sandy, Joel Garten, live, live music
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HD Video Interview with Vivian Reiss in her amazing artist’s garden in Toronto. 16 Foot tall corn!
Watch this HD video interview I did with artist Vivian Reiss in her urban farming garden in Toronto. It featues 16 foot tall broom corn, multi-colored amaranth, and gardening secrets. Enjoy!
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Tagged art, artist, broom corn, gardening, gardens, HD, interview, recipes, urban farming, video, vivian reiss
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Artist Profile: The ‘Mix Tape’ New Music Pianist Vicky Chow
Here is the latest article I wrote for the Huffington Post, a profile of new music pianist Vicky Chow: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-garten/vicky-chow-piano_b_1937990.html By Joel Garten Pianist Vicky Chow has a buzz around her. She plays a wide variety of new music; many … Continue reading
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Joel Garten in Concert, October 10, 2012 at Gallery 345, Toronto
I will be playing a concert of my improvisations on October 10 2012 at Gallery 345. As many people know, Gallery 345 is rapidly becoming known in the Toronto new music scene as a place where people come to really … Continue reading
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Tagged classical, concert, Gallery 345, jazz, Joel Garten, music, piano, toronto
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Cathedral in Astorga, Spain
Astorga is just a small town but it has a huge cathedral. Here is a photo I took of the beautifully carved front facade.
Toronto Travel: 5 Great Summer Outings
Toronto Travel: 5 great summer outings By Joel Garten, Originally published in the Huffington Post When the temperature rises in Toronto, Canada during the brief summer, I love to get out and enjoy some of these off-the-beaten track outings. … Continue reading
The Scoop on Europe’s Ridiculously Cheap Airline, Ryanair
by Joel Garten originally published in the Huffington Post If you want to travel from city to city in Europe on the cheap, you should turn to Ryanair, Europe’s quirky yet ridiculously inexpensive airline. Europe’s Schengen agreement has gotten rid … Continue reading
Ten Tips for a Happy Trip to Venice, Italy
This article I wrote on Venice Travel was just published in the Huffington Post Ten Tips for a Happy Trip to Venice, Italy By Joel Garten Venice is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. Wandering down narrow, crumbling … Continue reading
Posted in Huffington Post, places, travel
Tagged art, article, doge's palace, huffington post, italy, san marco, travel, travel tips, vaporetto, venice
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View of Budapest across the Danube
I took this photo of Budapest around sunset, the sun illuminating this beautiful city. The Danube river is the heart of the Budapest, the liquid highway that brought it wealth and a cosompolitan connection to the outside world. It also … Continue reading
Painting of Paintings
This is a close up detail of a photo I took of a painting in the Musee des Beaux Arts, Brussels Belgium.
Architecture, Brussels, Belgium
Across the street from where I stayed in Brussels was this very modern addtion to quite an old building. The view from my window! I had a roof view.
Edward’s Gardens, Toronto
beautiful overview of the park. They have gardening and horticulture classes at this park. Giant banana It takes a lot of flowers to do this type of planting.
Vivian Reiss painting the sheep
Vivian Reiss is well known for her series of paintings of sheep. Here she is painting sheep on a farm near Roseneath, Ontario.
Church in Ghent, Belgium
A beautiful church in Ghent, Belgium. I loved walking around this church, it had a very light airy feeling, which I found in churches in Belgium and Netherlands, as they like to paint the interiors white.
Geertgen tot Sint Jans, “The Glorification of the Virgin”
I was fascinated by this painting I saw in the Boijmans museum in Rotterdam. It has a little virgin and child surrounded by a cloud of symbols and angels in gold.
Night time in Bruges, Belgium
Bruges is an extremely beautiful and ancient city of canals, churches and houses. Walking along the canals at night is extremely peaceful and beautiful.
Michaelina Wautier, Portrait of A Man
A beautiful portrait from the Brussels Musee des Beaux Arts. Excellent choice of frame as well.
Antwerp Train Station
Here is the beautiful Antwerp train station
Beautiful Park “Jardin du Mont Des Arts”, Brussels, Belgium
This park called Jardin du Mont Des Arts in French is located where the hill where the royal castle is built descends into the old town. It is a beautifully landscaped park, and the flute player looks a lot like some of the … Continue reading
Caritas (“Charity”), by Lucas Cranach the Younger,
This was one of my favorite paintings from the Musee de Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium, a museum filled with great masterpieces. I looked at this for a long time, and it charm only increased.
1600 year old olive tree, Greece
This tree is at the ancient Greek and Roman site of Gortys/Gortyna, on the island of Crete. This tree started growing 1600 years ago, which coincided with an earthquake which hit the site. A Byzantine church was destroyed in the … Continue reading
Monastery in Greece
This is a monestary I visited in Greece.
The Best is Yet To Come!!!!
Frank Sinatra sings the Best Is Yet To Come
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Vivian Reiss: Sheep Painting
Vivian Reiss has completed a large series of paintings of sheep in a farm outside Toronto. The works have extremely inventive compositions. Sheep stare directly out of the canvas, while other sheep stand in a the barnyard architecture with their … Continue reading
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Sketch for Bonheur De Vivre
Here is a sketch for the Bonheur De Vivre by Matisse. I have previously posted the final painting. I love this sketch, beacuse it is a more abstracted version of the final painting.
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New World Center, Miami Florida
Here i am wamdering around the landscaping outside the New World Center, the symphony hall designed by Frank Gehry in Miami, Florida.
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Snub Nosed Monkey
This is a baby golden snub nosed monkey from China. National Geographic had a photo essay on them this month. They live in very cold conditions. One type of snub nosed monkey sneezes when it gets rain on its … Continue reading
Bonnard at the Norton Museum of Art
A huge, unfinished painting by Bonnard.
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Richard Diebenkorn at Norton Museum of Art
At the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach there are two very beautiful, small Diebenkorns that transfixed me.
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Wading
Here I am wading in the water in the US Virgin Islands. Its such a dreamy image.
Go Ask Alice
This song was in my dream last night. Not sure what it means yet. By Jefferson Airplane
Gold and Silver Moth
This beautiful moth was found on the kitchen counter where I am in the US Virgin Islands. It has both gold and silver on its wings. A precious metal moth! BK9W6TNBSG7E
Beautiful view
This is a beautiful view from the top of a mountain in USVI It looks like fairy tale land!
Wild Orchid
On the way down to the beach in St. John, US Virgin Islands, I found these beautiful wild orchids here is another beautiful orchid from USVI
Underwater photos
I went snorkling in the US Virgin Isles with an underwater camera, here are some beautiful photos I took of the sky taken from underwater. enjoy!
Hermit Crab
I am in the US Virgin Islands having a great time. Today on the beach I found a hermit crab living in an abandoned snail shell. It was very cute, and shy at first, but pretty soon it was out … Continue reading
Bruce Cockburn: Wondering where the Lions Are
Great song by Bruce Cockburn. I keep having scary dreams about a problem I’m having, but last night I had a good dream where my problems were all solved -not perfectly, but good enough - and I could move on in happiness. … Continue reading
Gardiner Museum, Toronto
Here are some beautiful things from the Mesoamerican collection at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto. I was there last week. Serpent bowl from Panama 800-1200 AD Crab bowl from Panama 800-1200 AD polychrome bowl with hieroglyphic writing and a God in the … Continue reading
Quite Interesting: The British Quiz Show!
QI is fun british quiz show featuring Stephen Fry. The questions are so difficult that they dont expect the panel to know the answers, so points are awarded based on how interesting the answers are. Points are deducted, and alarms … Continue reading
Liberale da Verona: Scene from a Novella
Another beautiful painting I saw from my last trip to the Metropolitan Museum. This painting is by Liberale da Verona entitled Scene from a Novella and was painted in Siena between 1467 and 1476. It is a rare secular painting from … Continue reading
Bobo Stenson: In The Forest
Bobo Stenson is a terrific jazz pianist and composer. My childhood nickname was Bobo, so I particularly like him. Here he performs a concert in a forest, which is a great accomplishment of logisitics and a beautiful conceit. The first … Continue reading
Don’t You Worry bout a ting
Here is a beautiful song by Bob Marley on the same subject as Don’t Worry Be Happy! by Bobby Mcferrin. Dont you worry bout a thing! Enjoy!
Bramantino: Madonna and Child
During my recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum, I was transfixed by this beautiful painting by Bramantino (Bartolomeo Suardi). It really deserves much greater fame. It is an unusually peaceful serene composition. The Madonna holds an apple, with Latin name … Continue reading
Donato De’ Bardi
I just returned from a trip to the Metropolitan Museum and I am going to post some things I saw. What a beautiful museum. Here is the right panel of a triptych by Donato De’ Bardi. It is so beautiful … Continue reading
Piet Mondrian: Dune in Zeeland
Early in Piet Mondrian’s career, before he developed his famous style, he went to Zeeland in the Netherlands and painted a series of paintings of sand dunes. These paintings were a landmark in his development as an artist, and where … Continue reading
7 new piano improvisation compositions by Joel Garten posted online
visit my myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/joelgarten to hear 7 of my new compositions I just recorded yesterday! They are the first seven peices on the myspace playlist. They are all solo piano improvisations. Enjoy!
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Tagged composition, impromptu, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, piano, solo
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Don’t Worry Be Happy! by Bobby Mcferrin
I`ve been through some really tough, anxious times recently. This song can really brighten your mood in these hard times. it comes with much love. Joel
Front Chard
Vivian Reiss’ front yard is filled with swiss chard, so she calls is her front chard. Beautiful rainbow colors!
Monkey Cup
A fun monkey cup in terracotta. It dates to the mid-6th century B.C.. It comes from East Greece or Cyprus.
Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson
A beautiful song sung by Smokey Robinson
Islamic Calligraphy
I love Islamic calligraphy. The shape and flow of the letters is so beautiful. Islamic art did not feature large scale painting, so other arts, such as bookbinding, calligraphy and miniature painting became very prominent.
Phnom Da style sculpture
This sculpture is in the magnificent Phnom Da style of Cambodia and dates to around the 6th c. AD. There are very few examples of this style of art, which remarkably displays influence from ancient Greek art. I saw a … Continue reading
New Solo Piano Improvisation posted online
I recorded a few new pieces today and I have posted one of them on my mysapce page. It is a solo piano improvisation. I hope you enjoy. To listen, please go to: www.myspace.com/joelgarten It is the first piece in … Continue reading
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Tagged composition, impromptu, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, my music, piano, solo
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Ram in a Thicket from the British Museum
This is a spectacular sculpture that I remember as one of the highlights of the British Museum in London. The British Museum is a huge storehouse of treasures from around the world, including the Rosetta Stone, the engraved stone with … Continue reading
Sergei Prokofiev
Prokofiev is one of my favorite composers, and was a master orchestrator. Unfortunately, his creativity was cramped but the repressive Soviet regime. He has created many great pieces, ballets and operas. Here are three movements of a piano concerto he wrote. … Continue reading
Third Impromptu Concert a Great Success!
images from my concert of solo piano improvisations
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Tagged composition, concert, impromptu, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, my music, piano, solo
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Maybe I’m Amazed by Paul McCartney
Maybe I’m Amazed by Paul McCartney
Upcoming Concert: August 25 2010
I will be playing a solo concert of my piano improvisations on August 25 2010 at 8pm. This is a casual concert by invitation. If you would like to come and havent received an invitation, please email me at contact@Joelgarten.com
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Tagged composition, concert, impromptu, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, my music, piano, solo
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Bonheur de Vivre by Matisse
This is one of Matisse’s great masterpieces painted 1905-1906, a huge canvas with a lot going on. It resides in the Barnes Foundation. Barnes was a great collector of Matisse and many other French painters. The energy in this painting … Continue reading
Toronto’s new Sugar Beach park
Toronto’s newest beach is the sweetly named Sugar Beach, located next to the Redpath Sugar plant. It has cheerful pink beach umbrellas and white sand. The shade of pink in the umbrellas is slightly purple-y, which is quite lovely. A … Continue reading
Joanna Newsom
Charming music video by harpist/vocalist Joanna Newsom
Fun Pasta Sauce Commercial
Tarako is a type of Japanese pasta sauce made from spicy fish roe. Its really delicious! The Kewpie company makes these fun commercials with the little kewpie-beanbag charachters. Thanks to Yurie for sending me this video.
Photography Portraits by Mia Hanson
These portraits of me were taken by the photographer Mia Hanson, who as you can see is extremely talented. They were taken last March at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my favorite museum.
Monkey Ceramics
This was a present from my mother. It reminds me of a white ceramic monkey that Elvis had at Graceland, which coincidentally my grandmother also had in her apartment in Florida.
Phalaenopsis orchids
I love orchids, they are such beautiful exotic flowers. The most popular orchids for at-home growing is the phalaenopsis orchid. They are very hardy, and the blossoms last a long time. They require watering once a week with lukewarm water.
Philip Guston
Philip Guston, like Richard Diebenkorn was an artist that had a career both as an abstract painter and a figurative painter, both of which were very successful. The intent of the two phases of his career seem very different, yet it … Continue reading
Hear my music on MYSPACE
You can now hear my solo piano improvisations on my myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/joelgarten
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Tagged composition, improvisation, improvistation, Joel Garten, music, my music, piano
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Beautiful Garden by Vivian Reiss
Garden by Vivian Reiss. Website: www.vreiss.com Blog: www.vivianreiss.com
Golden Lion Tamarin Monkeys
These beautiful monkeys have a golden mane of fur. They are tiny little monkeys that live in the jungle in Brazil, where they eat insects and vegetation and anything else they can scrounge like bird eggs. There are some at the … Continue reading
Portrait of a Lady
Clear, enchanting and personable, this portrait is by Jacometto Veneziano, dating to around 1480.
Second Impromptu Concert a Success!
Last night’s concert was a great success. I played five pieces and an encore. Above are a couple photos of me playing inside the piano. The concert was attended by two radio personalities, Jaymz Bee and Marilyn Lightstone.
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Tagged concert, impromptu, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, my music, piano, solo
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Korean Vase
This beautiful, simple vase comes from Korea and is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its from the late 13th Century. It has such a simple grace to it. The glaze is called Celadon, which is usually … Continue reading
Petrus Christus: A Goldsmith in His Shop
A great masterpiece by Petrus Christus from 1449. There is so much going on in this painting, its hard to catalogue. Look closely and carefully, and you can teast out a great many details, compositional tricks, and exceptional shows of … Continue reading
Monkey enamel
This beautiful enamel beaker is one of the finest examples from the medieval period. It features playful monkeys taking a peddler’s belongings and frolicking in the trees. The monkeys are a symbol and commentary on human folly. No matter what we do, … Continue reading
Cute photos
Which is more cute? photos of me and a baby from a recent garden party.
Beautiful Vietnamese Monkeys
This monkey is called the douc langur, and it is beautiful. They are very endangered. I’ve never been to Vietnam, but I’ve seen them in a zoo and they are very graceful, peaceful animals. baby one: Here is another amazing vietnamese … Continue reading
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Tagged animals, Cat Ba Langur, duoc langur, monkey, monkeys, vietnam
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Upcoming Concert: July 21 2010
I will be playing a solo concert of my piano improvisations on July 21 2010 at 8pm. This is a casual concert by invitation. If you would like to come and havent received an invitation, please email me at contact@Joelgarten.com
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Tagged composition, concert, improvisation, Joel Garten, music, my music, solo
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Blythe Dolls
Blythe dolls are sixties-style big eyed dolls that became popular in Japan after being promoted in an advertising campaign for the department store Parco. When I was in Japan I had a friend who looked exactly like one of these dolls. … Continue reading
Manet: Young Lady in 1866 and Mademoiselle V. . . in the Costume of an Espada
Manet painted many great paintings, many of which feature this model, named Victorine Meurent (1844–1928). What I find most interesting about his work are his compositions. The inclusion here of the parrot perch is essential to balancing the picture. Each element … Continue reading
Bowerbirds – the landscape architects of the natural world
National Geographic Magazine had an amazing article about bowerbirds, a small bird that lives in Australia and New Guinea. What makes the bowerbird unique is that the males create amazing love nests decked out with found objects to woo the … Continue reading
Vermeer: Maid Asleep
This is one of my favorite paintings by Vermeer. There are only 36 Vermeer paintings in existance. Maid Asleep is a dreamy painting with a composition with multiple planes.
Viktor and Rolf
Viktor and Rolf are an innovative fashion design duo. Here is a fashion show they put together for Spring/Summer 2009 which I admire. It is a completely digital show, featuring the model Shalom Harlow, who was filmed with multiple cameras and … Continue reading
Alpacas!
Cute alpcas captured by my cell phone camera. One of the features that humans find inherently cute is large eye size in realtion to head size. Alpacas have very big eyes, which is part of the reason they are so … Continue reading
We Are Family
A great inspirational song. “Our Golden Rule: have faith in you and the things you do, you wont go wrong, this is our family jewel”. The family jewel is faith in yourself and what you do; a concept rather than … Continue reading
Odaiba, Tokyo
Odaiba is an island area in Tokyo Japan accessible by a monorail. It was one of the most fun adventures I had in Tokyo (and there were a lot!). Every stop on the Odaiba Monorail had some great architectural attraction. … Continue reading
Jean Dubuffet #2
Update! These came from the blog http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/ Check out these amazing sculptures by Jean Dubuffet in a show from 2008. They look a little like Leger sculptures. see all the images here http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/tag/jean-dubuffet/
Jean Dubeffet
Jean Dubuffet is in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has the top two paintings, and the MOMA, which has many. His work pus together a very inspired child-like aesthetic, married with a … Continue reading
Posted in art
Tagged african, art, jean dubuffet, metropolitan museum, painting, primitive
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Wooden Gongs #2
It turns out that my blog entry on wooden gongs is the first hit for a google search of Wooden Gongs. I never imagined that happening! More information about the Chinese wooden gong: It is known as a “wooden fish” hence the … Continue reading
Posted in things from my collections
Tagged buddhism, music, my collections, wooden gongs
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Sunrise
Beautiful sunrise over Stony Lake where I was this past few days. July 1 2010 Canada Day
What People are saying about the Impromptu Concert
Jeanne Beker of Fashion Television, who was at last week’s impromptu concert where I played my solo piano improvisations, says about my music: “Joel’s multi-layered music sweeps you away. He paints rich and mysterious mental landscapes and magically creates awesome … Continue reading
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Tagged composition, concert, impromptu, improvistation, Jeanne Beker, my music, piano, review, solo
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The Eyes Have It
Two figures from the Ancient Near Eastern Art collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first is an “Eye Idol” found in Tell Brak in Iraq. The second is a figure found in the site Tell Asmar in Iraq. … Continue reading
Richard Diebenkorn
In the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, they have a great collection of paintings by the artist Richard Diebenkorn, who I find to be very inspiring for my music. In the museum they have one of his paintings next … Continue reading
Wooden Gongs
Wooden gongs and bells Continue reading
Posted in things from my collections
Tagged art, bells, Joel Garten, metropolitan museum, music, my collections, slit gongs, wooden, wooden gongs
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