2023-01-20 23:33:17 +00:00
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---
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title: "Part of my cellar"
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description: "Quick tour of my pipes and accessories"
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author: Amolith
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date: 2020-04-17T20:18:01-04:00
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cover: /assets/jpgs/porch.jpg
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2023-03-19 23:39:36 +00:00
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draft: false
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2023-01-20 23:33:17 +00:00
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categories:
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- Pipe Smoking
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tags:
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- Nørding
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- Churchwarden
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- Cellar
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- Pipes
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- Missouri Meerschaum
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- Mauro Armellini
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---
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Continuing with my journey into the world of pipe smoking, I thought I
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would show what my *cellar*[^1] looks like. It's not much—just some jars
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and a pipe stand on my dresser—but it's more than what I've seen some
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other people have[^2]. I'll talk about tobacco in another post; this one
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is just about what's on the left of the picture below. The paper is
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something I saw in a YouTube video and I thought it was a really cool
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idea; rather than pinching your tobacco out of the jar, sprinkling it
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into the bowl, and inevitably spilling some, simply dump it onto a sheet
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of paper. From there, you can pull apart any clumps that may have
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formed, fill the bowl, then fold the paper in half lengthwise and pour
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what's left back into to the jar.
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![Picture of my dresser with some pipes, accessories, and tobacco. To
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the right, there are 12 big jars of tobacco along with a smaller one. On
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the left is my half-full pipe stand with three pipes in it, my lighter,
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a pipe tool, a wind cap, a smaller single stand to the right, and a
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sheet of paper in the front.](/assets/jpgs/dresser.jpg)
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The small stand to the right of the big one is the [Single Pipe Stand
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from
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SmokingPipes](https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe%20accessories/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=120415).
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I do like it but it's really only suitable for pipes with straight[^3]
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stems; with bent stems, the mouthpiece ends up resting on the table. I
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haven't tried it but I would recommend going with the [solid
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version](https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe%20accessories/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=120414)
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if you're wanting a stand for a single pipe because it's more versatile.
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The larger one, below, is the [Woodmere 6 Pipe
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Stand](https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe%20accessories/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=120414)
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from the same website. It has the same problem as the first but it's not
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as pronounced; pipes with bent stems need to be pushed forward in the
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divot in the base so they can lean back against the bar. Otherwise, the
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weight of the stem and shank[^4] will cause them to fall forward.
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Pipes will be described further down so the next thing is the metal
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object that looks like a sink drain. It's a [wind cap from The Country
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Squire](https://www.thecountrysquireonline.com/product/wind-cap/) (which
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also has [a great
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podcast](https://www.podastery.com/podcast-country-squire-radio)). I've
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found it to be very handy at my university when it's windy. The next
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item is just a simple "Czech pipe tool" that can be purchased from
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pretty much any store that sells pipes, both brick-and-mortar and online
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retailers. The last thing is a Zippo *pipe* lighter. These are entirely
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different from normal Zippo lighters because they're meant to be held
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sideways over the bowl of a pipe. This design lets you put the flame
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directly to the tobacco rather than drawing it over the side of the bowl
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and scorching the rim. I ordered mine from Amazon a year or so ago but
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have since stopped using Amazon due to ethical and privacy concerns. I
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can't find the same product on [Zippo's
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website](https://www.zippo.com/collections/pipe-lighters) so here's a
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link to it from
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[Wal-mart.](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Zippo-Red-Pipe-High-Polished-Brass-Windproof-Lighter-28322-NEW-L-K/628527710)
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I also dislike using Wal-mart but it's marginally better than Amazon.
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![This picture is pretty much the same as the earlier one but without
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the tobacco and paper.](/assets/jpgs/pipes.jpg)
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Now the fun part :wink: The first pipe I got was the [Missouri Pride from
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Missouri
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Meerschaum.](https://corncobpipe.com/missouri-pride-corncob-pipe.html)
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An *excellent* starter pipe, I ended up giving it to my room mate after
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he showed an interest in the hobby. However, a close friend of mine had
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given me one of his old pipes and I fell in love with it. Unfortunately,
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I know absolutely *nothing* about it other than it was made by [Mauro
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Armellini](https://pipedia.org/wiki/Armellini), an Italian craftsman who
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died several years ago. I'm considering sending an email to the company
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and seeing if they can tell me anything about it. On one side of the
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shank is the name *Mauro Armellini*, the bottom has the number *705*,
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and the other side says *Verona* with the word *ARCOBALENO* below it. If
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anyone reading this knows something about the pipe, please let me know.
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![A picture of my pipe from Mauro Armellini. It's sitting on my porch
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rail with the yard in the background; the grass is a light green and the
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leaves of the woods further on are darker. The pipe is a rich brown with
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a cream-coloured opalescent stem. There is a mother-of-pearl inlay on
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top of the stem.](/assets/jpgs/armellini.jpg)
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The first "real" pipe I bought myself was a churchwarden[^5] from
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[Nørding Pipes.](https://www.nordingpipes.com/) If you're curious about
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the company or the founder, Erik Nørding, listen to this episode of the
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[Country Squire Radio.](https://countrysquireradio.fireside.fm/341)
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After I heard it, I decided to make one of their pipes my first
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purchase. What I ended up getting was a Partially Rusticated[^6]
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Churchwarden from
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[SmokingPipes.](https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/Nording/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=363601)
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I've been using it for a month or so now and absolutely love it,
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especially when I'm sitting on the porch reading or going lunting[^7].
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![This is also a picture of a pipe on my porch rail. It is significantly
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longer at about 10.5 inches or 265 millimetres. The stem has a gentle
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curve. The bowl is the same deep brown as the Armellini pipe but the
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finish is newer so it shines more. The rustication will be hard to
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describe. The rest of the pipe is brown but the rusticated part is
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black. The texture is rough but smooth—the edges that might have been
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jagged were sanded down. The bottom of the bowl is what's rusticated;
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the top is normal. When held upside down, it almost looks as if the
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rusticated part is dripping onto the normal part and the same for the
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stem.](/assets/jpgs/churchwarden-nording.jpg)
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My latest acquisition is [The
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Emerald](https://corncobpipe.com/the-emerald-corn-cob-pipe) from
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[Missouri Meerschaum.](https://corncobpipe.com) It is a corn cob pipe
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but not like the Missouri Pride; this model has very obviously been
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sanded smooth and sealed so that it *almost* feels like finished wood.
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The stem is a higher quality acrylic than their other models and much
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more pleasant to look at as well. This is the model they released for
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Saint Patrick's Day in 2019 but, due to popular demand, they started
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producing it again. I'm hoping to purchase this year's as well and start
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building a collection.
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![This pipe is a light cream colour. The bowl looks like the cob of an
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ear of corn (that's what it is) with a short wooden tube sticking out of
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it. The bent stem is a deep marbled green.](/assets/jpgs/emerald.jpg)
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This last picture is of me sitting on my porch with a book, my
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churchwarden, my lighter, and my pipe tool. It was a warm and peaceful
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afternoon and I had a strong urge to capture the moment because this is
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one of the *big* reasons I enjoy smoking a pipe. In the rigorous life of
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a university student, musician, and systems administrator, this is my
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rare chance to just slow down and simply be in the moment without
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worrying over anything else.
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![In this picture, you can see the top edge of the book I'm reading, my
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crossed legs resting on the porch rail, my churchwarden to the left, and
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my light and pipe tool to the right. This is the same "warm" scene as
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described in the picture of Armellini's pipe; it's very
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peaceful](/assets/jpgs/porch.jpg)
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[^1]: In this context, a cellar is simply a place to store pipes and
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pipe tobacco. When someone says they're going to *cellar* their
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tobacco, they mean they're going to prepare it for long-term
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storage.
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[^2]: One was literally just a cardboard box with some jars inside and a
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few pipes laying on top. There's nothing wrong with that but I
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prefer to have a little more space.
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[^3]: The stem is the part of the pipe where the mouthpiece is. In these
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pictures, it's opalescent for the first, marbled for the second, and
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solid black for the third.
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[^4]: The shank is where the stem is inserted; it's in between that and
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the bowl and made from the same material as the bowl.
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[^5]: *Churchwarden* refers to the length of the pipe. There are many
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theories about why it's named so but one I find interesting is that
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it's after real
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[churchwardens.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchwarden) They
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would have to stay up all night guarding the church and couldn't be
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expected to go that long without smoking. However, the smoke from a
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traditional pipe would often obscure their vision because it was so
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close to their face. The churchwarden was invented so the bowl was
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significantly further away and wouldn't get in their line of sight.
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[^6]: Rustication is the process of adding texture to the bowl (or
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shank) of a pipe. Generally, this is done to hide imperfections in
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the briar so the pipe still looks good. Personally, I stay away from
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*fully* rusticated pipes not just because I don't like the
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aesthetics but because the wood is likely poor quality. This is
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certainly not *always* the case, however.
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[^7]: Lunting is *the act of taking a leisurely stroll whilst smoking a
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tobacco pipe ([Lunting.org](https://www.lunting.org/)).* When I go
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hiking, I'll often take my pipe with me; it's a calm and
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contemplative time to simply think and enjoy a good tobacco.
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