Born on this day!! Actor James Cromwell (“Murder in the First,” ″Babe”) is 82. Drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is 78. Singer Nedra Talley of The Ronettes is 76. Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov is 74. Country singer Cheryl White of The Whites is 67. Guitarist Richard Young of The Kentucky Headhunters is 67. Actor Mimi Rogers is 66. Guitarist Janick Gers of Iron Maiden is 65. Actor Susanna Thompson (“Arrow”) is 64. TV host Keith Olbermann is 63. Singer Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies is 61. Keyboardist Gillian Gilbert (New Order) is 61. Actor Tamlyn Tomita (TV’s “Teen Wolf”) is 59. Actor Bridget Fonda is 58. Actor Alan Cumming (“Spy Kids”) is 57. Singer Mike Patton (Faith No More) is 54. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 54. Rapper Tricky is 54. Guitarist Michael Kulas of James is 53. Comedian Patton Oswalt is 53. Actor Josh Randall (“Ed”) is 50. Country singer Kevin Denney is 44. Drummer Andrew Lee of St. Paul and the Broken Bones is 36. Drummer Matt Sanchez of American Authors is 36. Actor-musician Braeden Lemasters of Wallows (TV’s “Men of a Certain Age”) is 26.
THIS DAY IN GENIUS HISTORY
1880 – Thomas Edison was granted a patent for his incandescent light.
1944 – The Soviets announced the end of the two-year siege of Leningrad.
1945 – The Russians liberated Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews.
1951 – The U.S. Air Force started atomic testing in the Nevada desert.
1967 – The Apollo I fire killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a simulated launch at Cape Canaveral.
1973 – Vietnam War peace accords were signed in Paris.
Today Is: Auschwitz Liberation Day, Holocaust Memorial Day, International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, National Geographic Day, Thomas Crapper Day, Viet Nam Peace Day
TODAY ON TV!
Primetime TV (All Times Eastern)
CBS – 8:00 – Young Sheldon 8:30 – United States Of AI / 9:00 – Ghosts / 9:30 – Be Positive / 10:00 – Bull
NBC – 8:00 – The Blacklist / 9:00 – Law and Order SVU / 10:00 – Law and Order SO
ABC – 8:00 – The Truth and Lies / 10:00 – Promise Land
FOX – 8:00 – Joe Millionaire / 9:00 – Call Me Kat / 9:30 – Pivoting
CW – 8:00 – Walker / 9:00 – Legacies
TV Talk Shows
Jimmy Kimmel: Johnny Knoxville, Jude Hill
Jimmy Fallon: Kevin James, Ilana Glazer, Jacques Pépin
Stephen Colbert: Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, St. Paul and The Broken Bones
Seth Meyers: Kenan Thompson, Tom Riley, Larnell Lewis
James Corden: Jared Leto, David Cross
Watch What Happens Live: Patti Lupone, Cynthia Nixon
The View: Dov Forman, Lily Ebert, guest co-host Lisa Ling
The Talk: TBA
Live with Kelly and Ryan: Tom Selleck
Ellen DeGeneres: Paris Hilton, Vontae Johnson, Lizzy McAlpine
The Real: Janet Jackson, Yvette Nicole Brown, W. Kamau Bell, guest co-host DC Young Fly
Drew Barrymore: Kate Hudson, Jay Shetty, Kimberly Snyder
WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT? Here are today’s PPM-Friendly Topics!
QUESTION: Have they gone TOO FAR?? China changes the end of “Fight Club….” so now, the COPS WIN!!! Are we gonna this crap off them?????
QUESTION: Still holding those ADELE TICKETS?? You might as well BURN ‘EM, ’cause it doesn’t look like she’ll EVER reschedule her Vegas residency!!
QUESTION: What happens when Neil Young tells Spotify to pull the Joe Rogan podcast or remove HIS music?? Like you thought: “See ya ’round, Neil!!”
QUESTION: Love a HACK? This Mickey D menu hack is about to go “official!” McChicken, Big Mac and Filet-o-Fish in one sandwich! “Land, Air and Sea!!”
QUESTION: Guess who disagrees with Peter Dinklage about the new “Snow White” remake? THE DWARVES IN THE MOVIE!! They say, “Shut up!! We’re working!”
Elton John Postpones Shows
Elton John has tested positive for COVID-19 and has postponed a pair of concerts at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The arena confirmed that John tested positive for COVID-19 and would be unable to perform on Tuesday and Wednesday. The concerts are a part of John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. “Elton is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is experiencing only mild symptoms. Fans should hold on to their tickets as they will be honored at the rescheduled dates to be announced soon. Elton and the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour look forward to returning to the stage shortly,” the venue said in a statement. It remains unclear if John will be performing in Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday and in Oklahoma City on Sunday. John first announced the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in 2018, stating that he will be retiring from touring after it is wrapped up. The tour has gone through multiple delays due to COVID-19 pandemic and a hip injury.
*****Right now he’s being held together by duct tape and bailing wire!!!
*****Meanwhile, Keith Richards just went for a jog while smoking and drinking a beer!!
*******Even Cher and Barbra Streisand are saying: “Dude!! You’ve got game!!”
NFL Draws Huge Ratings On Sunday
Sunday’s thrilling postseason matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills was the most-watched NFL divisional playoff game on any network in five years. The Chiefs’ dramatic 42-36 overtime win over the Bills averaged 42.7 million viewers Sunday, according to figures released by ViacomCBS. The network said the game peaked with 51.6 million viewers, marking the second consecutive week that CBS’ primetime NFL game topped the 50-million viewer mark. The Chiefs-Bills showdown had the largest audience for an NFL divisional playoff game since the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys matchup on Jan. 15, 2017, which attracted 48.5 million viewers. On FOX, Saturday’s primetime game between the San Francisco 49ers and Packers drew 36.9 million viewers, climbing 40% over the comparable 2021 game. NBC’s Sunday afternoon divisional game, which saw the Los Angeles Rams defeat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had a total audience delivery of 40 million viewers across multiple platforms. That figure makes it the most-watched NFL game on NBC — excluding Super Bowls — since the debut of Sunday Night Football in 2006.
******That’s almost half of a Super Bowl audience!!
*******It’s always good when your crushing defeat is seen by a large audience!!
*******Of course, L.A. is excited about the Rams now. Because they’re winning!! Otherwise? Eh.
Disney Responds To Peter Dinklage
Disney has responded to recent criticism made by Peter Dinklage over its live-action remake of “Snow White.” On Monday, he was a guest on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, where he slammed the upcoming film based on the 1937 animated classic. The actor, who has dwarfism, noted that the story makes caricatures out of people like him. Soon after, a Disney spokesperson issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter in an attempt to set the record straight. “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community,” the statement read. “We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.” The outlet noted that “Snow White” will have cultural consultants, just like with other live-action films like “Aladdin” and “Mulan.” The film has been in development for three years and the studio has been reimagining the dwarf characters since the earliest stages of development.
**********In this version, all the “dwarves” will be six feet tall!!! Does that help?
******Disney will do anything to change Peter from “grumpy” to “happy!!”
*****Let’s call it “Snow Off-White and the Seven Studs!!”
Kim Kardashian’s Body Can Be Bad For You
A study conducted by Toronto’s York University discovered that “slim-thick” imagery online causes more body dissatisfaction amongst young women. The study actually named Kim Kardashian and her sister Kylie Jenner as influencers who contribute to the discontent women feel about their bodies because of their online content. The “slim-thick” body ideal — defined by the researchers as “a curvier or more full-body type, characterized by a small waist and flat stomach but large butt, breasts and thighs” — has become more idolized in mainstream media in recent years. “The hashtags #thick, #thicc and #slimthick have 6.2 million, 3.4 million, and 1 million posts on Instagram respectively, and the hashtag #slimthicc has 134 million tags on TikTok,” the researchers said of 2021 social media trends. While a thin, Kate Moss-esque frame might have been ideal in years prior, that trend is out and the Kim K’s of the world are in. Researchers Sarah McComb and Jennifer Mills were prompted to study the correlation between the emerging body ideal and physical satisfaction, surveying 402 women participants, ages 18 to 25, who are proven to be the heaviest Instagram users. The pool of women viewed 13 photos of influencers with less than 60,000 followers with different body types characterized as slim-thick, fit and thin. Contrary to the thin imagery that once reigned in media, the slim-thick body ideal actually caused “more weight and appearance dissatisfaction” than the thinner imagery, the study found. But the implications of social media comparison stretch far beyond the screen. According to the study, appearance perfectionism — like attempting to unhealthily attain the body of a Kardashian — can cause disordered eating, unhealthy weight-control behaviors, low self-esteem and social anxiety.
********Apparently anything can harm women’s self-esteem!! So everybody: shut up and go away!!
*******Women to Kim: “Stop being so hot!! You’re hurting us!!”
****Besides, Kim isn’t real! She’s obviously a robot!!!
Kid Rock Drops “Let’s Go Brandon” Song
Kid Rock has released a profanity-laced new single that bashes President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci over vaccine mandates and other policies. He released the inflammatory new song Monday, along with two others, to promote his upcoming Bad Reputation tour, which he claims could be his last. Titled “We the People,” the song begins by slamming Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert. Since the advent of the pandemic, the epidemiologist has become the face of “authoritarian” anti-COVID measures among right-leaning critics. “Man f–k Fauci,” screams Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie. “Wear your mask, take your pills, now a whole generation’s mentally ill!” Elsewhere in the four-minute-long jam, the proud supporter of former President Donald Trump crows, “But COVID’s near, it’s coming to town, we gotta act quick, shut our borders down; Joe Biden does, the media embraces, Big Don does it, and they call him racist.” “Inflation’s up like the minimum wage. So it’s all the same. Not a damn thing changed,” exclaims the rock star, who bizarrely compared himself to Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt in a recent music video. Meanwhile, the chorus entails the “Born Free” singer repeating “Let’s go Brandon,” the not-so-secret code for “F–k Joe Biden” among the president’s detractors. Hear the song HERE.
********Did he call him a “stupid son-of-a-bitch?” That’s one of Biden’s favorites!!
******According to the results of the last election, he should sell roughly 75 million copies!!
Michael Rapaport Films Shoplifter In NYC
New York actor and comedian Michael Rapaport flipped out in a Tuesday social media post that shows an alleged shoplifter brazenly walking out of a Manhattan Rite Aid. “I can’t believe I’m seeing this s—t,” the “I Am Rapaport” podcaster is heard saying over the video. “This f—king guy just filled his two bags up with everything in Rite Aid, right here on 80th [Street] and First Avenue is walking down the street like s–t is Gucci. I was watching him the whole time.” The purported thief is carrying bags as he strolls by a security guard and out onto the street. “Looking me in my face like ‘What’s good?,’” Rapaport claims. “My man just went Christmas shopping in January. He had the condoms, the shampoo.” He repeated the Christmas shopping comment and tagged Mayor Eric Adams’ account in a caption for the video, which had more than 132,000 views by Tuesday night. The store location is set to close Feb. 15 “because of this, leaving workers JOBLESS,” the actor claimed in the caption. An NYPD spokesperson said there was no report on file for the incident as of Tuesday night. See the video HERE.
******Of course no one reported it!! They’ve given up!!!
*******If nothing is against the law, there won’t be any criminals!! See how easy that is??
Ripping The Tabloids (Throughout the week, we’ll give you the stories from that weeks tabs!)
**Please Credit Publication!
Break My Heart: Dua Anwar Over-(National Enquirer)
Despite “insane chemistry,” singers Dua Lipa, 26, and Anwar Hadid, 22, are splitsville after two years of dating! But sources said there’s still a chance the “Cold Heart” singer and the brother of models Bella and Gigi can repair the rift. “Dua and Anwar had insane chemistry,” spilled a source. “They’re young, so things like this happen but they don’t believe that the love went away!”
Why Britney Quit Music-(Globe)
Boiling Britney Spears lashed out at her family online, saying THEY are the reason she refuses to make music anymore-because it’s the only way she can get back at them for the conservatorship that had her dad running her life and finances for nearly 14 years! “Not doing music anymore is my way of saying f**k you,” the newly freed 40-year-old songbird snarled in an Instagram post. “Honestly my family embarrassed me and hurt me deeply.”
Loose Talk-(Us Weekly)
“You just don’t want half of the conversations about your role to be, ‘Oh what facework did she do?’”-On why she thinks it’s best to age naturally in Hollywood, Kirsten Dunst.
“Jack will probably be a part of me for a very long time. But at the same time, I get to shave the beard, shave the mustache, get a haircut.”-On saying goodbye to his This Is Us character, Jack Pearson, Milo Ventimiglia.
“I always grew up and I thought like, ‘Affleck? What an incredibly ugly name.’ Now it sounds like the duck commercial. Aflac!”-Opening up about his unusual surname, Ben Affleck.
Thank You For Being a Friend-(Star)
Los Angeles, Dec. 31
When Betty White died of natural cause less than three weeks shy of her Jan. 17 100th birthday, the emotional outpouring was immediate. Grieving fans placed flowers, candles and photos near the peerless comedian’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Beloved on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls and more, Betty was a bold television groundbreaker during her 70-year career. She faced morality with the same pluck. “Fear of death is not one of my problems,” she once wrote, “I’ve always enjoyed exploring a path I rarely travel and have not idea where it leads. I’ll be dying to find out.” Naturally, Betty got the last laugh!
Romance Report Card-(Life & Style)
Jack Osbourne-
Aw! The Osbournes Want to Believe star revealed he popped the question to girlfriend of two year, Aree Gearhart. “She’s truly a magical being,” Jack gushed.
GRADE: A+
Ryan Phillips-
How special….A friend outed the Cruel Intentions actor’s secret relations with 24-year-old model Bailey Dodge on Instagram-in order to squash rumors Ran was gay.
GRADE: B-
Chanel Iman-
Picture-perfect? Not quite. News emerged that the catwalker’s NFL player hubby, Sterling Shepard, quietly filed for divorce last June after three years of marriage.
GRADE: D
Dating: Kanye ‘Ye’ West & Julia Fox-(People)
Just weeks after the rapper, 44, made public pleas to win back estranged wife Kim Kardashian, he’s moved on with Uncut Gems actress Fox, 31. The pair have enjoyed dates in Miami and N.Y.C., but West “isn’t looking for anything serious,” a source says.
Number of the Week-(In Touch)
2
-women who dumped new “Bachelor” Clay Echard and left before the first rose ceremony
STUPID NEWS
“Perfect Crime” Canceled Over Real Crime
An off-Broadway play appropriately titled Perfect Crime had to cancel some performances due to a real crime — someone stole the copper pipes from the theater’s basement. Catherine Russell, general manager of the Theater Center on West 50th Street in New York City and lead actress in Perfect Crime, said she discovered something was amiss when the water and heat weren’t working on Friday. Russell said she went into the building’s basement. “I turned the water on and I realized water was spraying everywhere because there were no pipes to fill the water,” Russell told WLNY-TV. “I discovered that thieves had taken all the copper pipes.” Russell found a door in the basement had been shattered and there were bullet casings on the floor. She said security cameras captured another attempted break-in on Sunday. “Boy, that was one angry man,” Russell told WABC-TV. “He was kicking with these big boots. Kicking, kicking, kicking, the glass door. Pretty violent.” The theater had to cancel about 12 performances between Perfect Crime and The Office: A Musical Parody, another show at the same venue.
*******New York City: Crime Central!!!
******They could make a Broadway musical about random criminals!!!
Tik Tok Fools Woman Into Visiting Switzerland
A prank video on TikTok fooled a disappointed Florida woman into visiting a North Carolina town she expected to look like Switzerland — and now the town’s mayor has weighed in. Olivia Garcia said in a TikTok video that she and her family were driving through the Carolinas to have a look at recent snows, and she convinced them to make a detour to Gastonia, a town she had recently seen in a viral TikTok from Zachary Keesee. Keesee’s video, part of what he calls his “Not Carolina” series, features footage of his trip to Switzerland, which he intentionally misidentified as Gastonia. Garcia told WBTV the video made Gastonia look “like a little town out of Disney movie.” She said the reality of Gastonia came as a surprise. “And then all of a sudden we get there, and it’s just rundown gas stations — like we had to go to the bathroom and there was no bathroom that worked in any of the gas stations,” Garcia said. Garcia’s reaction to the real Gastonia earned the attention of Walker E. Reid III, the town’s mayor. “Apparently we are the Talk of the Town! And while Gastonia is certainly not Switzerland, we’re glad people are learning more about our great city,” Reid said. Reid invited both TikTokers to visit the town and give it another chance. “We’re glad to see so many people having fun with Zachary Keesee’s post and hopefully Ms. Garcia will come back to see all the great things our city has to offer. “In fact, if they want to contact me, I’d love to give them a personal tour and show them what makes our city tick,” Reid said. See the video HERE.
**********That’ll take about 5 minutes!!
******The town is ticking because someone planted a bomb!!
Underground Delayed Over Stubborn Swan
Numerous London Underground trains experienced delays and cancellations when a swan planted itself on the tracks and refused to move for more than an hour. Commuters at the South Acton station captured photos and videos Monday evening of the stubborn swan. The London Underground said trains were unable to travel between Willesden Junction and Richmond during the swan’s sit-in. Fourteen trains had their routes canceled or redirected while workers attempted to coax the bird off the tracks. The swan finally stood up, and workers wrangled the bird to the Kingswood Road station entrance, where rescuers with London Wildlife Protection picked it up. The swan was kept overnight and released back into a flock Tuesday morning. See the video HERE.
*********If that was us, the swan would have marks that looked like train wheels!!
********The UK beat the Nazis.. but they can’t move a bird off the train tracks?? Are you serious right now??
Florida Man Arrested Over Bacon
A Florida man was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly causing a disturbance at a Cape Coral Waffle House over the way his bacon was cooked, according to a report. “You better cook the f—-ing bacon right!” Martin Jose Alvarez is accused of yelling, according to Local 10. Police said Alvarez was upset about how his bacon was delivered. The Tampa Free Press reported that the Alvarez is accused of shouting racial slurs at the workers and resisting officers until they threatened him with a taser.
**********The Waffle House… it’s where the action is!!
*******Have you ever had Waffle House bacon?? It’s so thin, you have to hold it up to the light to see it!!
******The guy came in and said, “Where’s the loser section?” They said: “Just sit anywhere!!”
STUFF THAT’S COOL AND VIRAL
VIDEO: OLD DISNEY CARTOON SOUND EFFECTS!
A LIST FOR THURSDAY
5 Signs That Your Work Friendship Is Toxic
HUFFINGTON POST
- Your friend expects you to take their side at work all the time.
“Friendship requires a level of favoritism,” Methot said. “It can hurt the friendship if it looks like you are not benefiting that person.”
But in the workplace, you can’t show this sort of bias to one colleague. A good friend understands that you need to maintain these professional boundaries to do your job.
A toxic work friend, however, may expect you to side with them in project disputes or tell them any inside information you hear from meetings and be hurt if you don’t share.
Patricia Sias, a researcher at the University of Arizona who studies workplace friendships, found that conflicting expectations is one of the five top ways work friendships deteriorate. In one of her research papers on the topic, she detailed an example from her interviews: When a manager reprimanded his friend for overlooking an aircraft safety action on his checklist, the friend took the feedback personally. “He said, ‘Well … you’re supposed to be my best friend.’ And I said, ‘This has nothing to do with friendship,’” the supervisor recalled.
Unsurprisingly, Sias’ paper revealed that the work friendship ultimately imploded after the stress and anger in this exchange. The wives of the work friends ended their own friendship, and the offended employee stopped letting the manager’s son hang out with his son.
- Your ability to get your job done would be jeopardized if you ended the friendship.
If you are scared of getting on your work friend’s bad side because you have seen them eviscerate their work enemies, that’s a sign that the relationship has a toxic foundation.
The consequences of your work friend’s retaliation could be as petty as getting left off emails to as big as getting the cold shoulder from the whole office after they turn your co-workers against you.
“If you know someone well enough, you know what they are capable of. If you are terrified of what they are capable of, you’ve come across someone who is pretty toxic,” said Tanisha Ranger, a Nevada-based clinical psychologist.
Maintaining a friendship out of fear is not healthy for your well-being or your continued longevity at the company.
“If you think, ‘This person is toxic, however, this person is tied into everything’ … if you feel there is no lever [you] could pull that won’t lead back to them in some way, now you have a systemic problem, and it’s time to think about where you want to work next,” Ranger said.
- Your work friend betrays your trust.
Good friendships are buit on mutual trust, and toxic friendships are built on feeling like you always have to watch your back around the other person.
Feeling betrayed is another of the top five reasons work friendships fail, according to Sias’ research. In one of her examples, a woman found her supposed friend going through her office files without her permission, and it ended the trust between them.
A betrayal doesn’t have to be as big as backstabbing or trespassing. It can also be an accrual of seemingly minor slights and dismissals that make you wonder if your friend is actually trustworthy. They might disclose your private information to others, or they may use information you shared in confidence to their own professional advantage, Methot said.
“They might hide information that’s useful for your job and for your development,” Methot added, noting, “They don’t want you to succeed as much, even if they care about you as a person. All of this really calls into question the foundation of trust in the relationship.”
- You become rude or gossipy when you are with this friend – and you’re gaining a bad reputation by associating with them.
The company you keep at work says a lot about your values, whether you intend it to or not. Bad vibes are contagious: Research has found that being around rude work bullies makes us more likely to be uncivil and mean, too.
You don’t want to stay friends with someone who is making you into someone you did not used to be, because it can ultimately start to damage your reputation, too. Jennifer Tardy, a diversity and inclusion consultant, sees this dynamic as guilt by association.
“If your workplace reputation is starting to be perceived similarly to your friend’s negative reputation simply because the two of you are ‘seen together’ often, that could be a problem,” she said.
Ranger said toxic work dynamics can push you to say and do things you would not do on your own. If “you find yourself being really cruel and gossipy in ways that you aren’t outside of this work relationship,” that’s a sign the relationship is not healthy, she said.
- Hanging out fills you with more ambivalence and dread than excitement.
Unless the betrayal is spectacular, it can be really hard to know when to cut off a friend. In unhealthy work friendship dynamics, Methot said, there can be mixed feelings that make it harder for people to know whether or not they should end the friendship.
“It’s not this turning point where all of a sudden we absolutely hate this person. It’s a sense of ambivalence,” she said. “If there is a piece of us that still cares about them or can’t really figure out how to reconcile this ambivalence, it takes up more of our mental energy.”
In these cases, Methot suggests paying attention to whether you feel excited to talk and learn from this person or whether your interactions tire you out. That will help you figure out whether the relationship is still beneficial. Talking to an outside party, such as a friend you don’t work with, could help, too.
In the end, it’s important to listen to your gut. Does the thought of going to happy hour and getting lunch with this person make you nervous or anxious? Do you call them your friend but dread the meetings or Slack conversations you are in together? Those are signs to pay attention to.
“If you are feeling uncomfortable, even if you can’t name why, it’s important to respect that,” Ranger said. “If you feel uneasy around them, that’s a really good sign that something is off.”
If your toxic work friendships are keeping you up at night, here’s a small bit of comfort: A lot of times work friendships end when the job does. It’s OK to cut these relationships off.
As popular therapist Esther Perel previously told HuffPost, “What’s very interesting is how many people have friends at work and when they change the work, the friends don’t go with them. “It’s a really powerful thing to see how much of these relationships are actually circumstantial. One or two people may continue with you in life, and the others you probably will not see again.”
The preceding material was compiled and edited by Brandon Castillo. The Editor-In-Chief is Gary Bryan. The Radio Genius Show Prep Service is licensed for use on-air only by subscribing radio stations. Other means of redistribution is forbidden.
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