Category: Chickity check it!

Guest Post- Jo-Ann Castano Lays It Out For Graphic Designers and Marketing Folk

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Jo-Ann Castano

Jo-Ann Castano

CDA/ArtsGloucester

http://www.facebook.com/joann.castano

Put your best image forward

online graphic postings and marketing


Joey had asked me to repost my response to his own GoodMorningGloucester post of August 3, 2019 regarding our intraweb conversation about frustration of receiving postings of flyers with tiny font when we the publishers need to resized for online use.  I went on a rant page scroll so for this repost, a bit of edited sense making.

We’re really talking about several issues here. They have to do with many constraints and skills; time management, finances, arts marketing, community networking, understanding technology, access to software, online and offline marketing, graphic design, understanding target markets, the culture of communities and some basics in the complex way the internet works with local and global target marketing.

There are TIME CONSTRAINTS for everyone. I often redesign artist’s and organization’s posters and submissions so that for whatever format they will be published in (blogs, ArtsGlouceter’s CACCN-News Flash, seARTS Newsblast, ArtThrob, individual emails, online news media) they all require different sizing of the image. I want the images to reflect the excellence that is in our community. 
Marketing: The image is important to communicate what the message is, especially for arts and cultural groups, since visuals, sounds and communications is what the arts do. I usually design for 600, 500 and 300 dpi. This way it is an added benefit for the artist or group who may not have the software, skills or time. They can reuse and send off these images on their own mailing lists with a more professional look.  
I suggest that the designers for organizations make poster size images and then redesign for smaller online ad size at the same time. It’s also a good idea to make a smaller template sized image for use in online calendars. The better the graphics, the more professional the graphics, the more chance of being noticed and reused or mentioned by professional communication channels such as art journals, tourism magazines, gallery dealers and patrons of the arts and culture.
Online, a good policy is to always type the important text of the image below the image so that the text in the image is clearly communicated. This also makes the text available to search engines and benefits the marketing of the client/customer as well.  Supply url web addresses as available and needed. I suggest that the client/customer have a web page on their web site with the poster information and include the link to that page for more information when submitting to online marketing. This is also beneficial for those of us who are marketing beyond our regular channels and on to social media which has a larger and broader audience beyond ones own list. This can draw more traffic and interest to the web site. Today one needs to be doing social networking along with the standard mailing list distribution of information. They now go hand in hand.
Check with online marketers about their requirements. Try not to just send online marketers pdf files (unless requested) of your flyer for submissions. Always include an appropriate jpg or gif file image properly sized. Include the text you want submitted in an email or online submission forms. Just as when sending a press release to newspapers, include an image if the publisher can use it. Photo credit and image caption can be helpful also or required.
For artists or cultural groups who don’t have a web site, open a Facebook account and keep it professional. Add images of your work in a photo album, keep people posted on what you are doing and invite people to re-post or “share” your postings. Sounds like it would be helpful to send 500 w/ dpi bold images to GoodMorningGloucester, content typed in an email so Joey can copy and paste easily and give the url to your web site, facebook site, blog or wherever you have an online presence. The more we all re-post, “share” other’s posts with our friends and colleagues, we can share our community collectively with pride.
Most of what I am concentrating on these days is facebook and social networking, marketing of the arts on the North Shore and keeping up with the local, state and national agendas for advocacy in the arts (time permitting, as it is an addiction and passion). If anyone would like to post their own art or event (only arts and culture please) or see what I’m looking at and promoting, visit:

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joann.castano

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ArtsGloucester.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joanncastano

Subscribe: ArtsGloucester’s Community Cultural/Civic Network (CACCN) newsflash mailing list:

email me at: CACCN(at)artsgloucester.com

When promoting the arts or anything else, put the best image forward because Gloucester and our cultural leaders and artists who work so hard, deserve no less. Joey’s and the other photographers’ and artists’ images on GoodMorningGlouceter are stunning and pull at the hearts and interests of our local and global community. Writers and contributors, you are the heart and soul of this place we call home. Thank you !

Joey, love you for what you do and know how much work it is. Besides that, I love how your brain is networked for doing all this, online and off line.  Man, do you know how to connect the dots.
blah, blah, blah,…Keep going!
Jo-

Chickity Check It! the H-Bomb Goes Lobstering With Geno Mondello

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

The art of Lobstering
Heading out to sea with Gloucester lobsterman Geno Mondello

Food for Thought Heather Atwood

Click the link above for the full story with pictures

excerpt-

Eight-legged, with 21 body segments and a brain the size of a grasshopper, a lobster inhales through its legs and exhales through its head, extracting oxygen on the way through its gills.

Lobsters can smell. While officially they don’t "hear," it is said that traps are usually empty on July 5, leaving many to believe lobsters hear enough to hide from the fireworks the night before.

Lobstering is the oldest continuous business in Massachusetts.

Click the Picture Below For The Video’s Featuring Geno Building Dories At His Dory Shop and out On His Lobster Boat

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Local Twitteratti You Should Follow- The City of Gloucester Gets It!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Congratulations to The City Of Gloucester For Joining The Twitter Universe and Providing and Easy Way To Get Your Message About Upcoming Meetings Out!

Gotta Love When You see Forward Progressive Thinking Out Of Your Government!

They’ve also updated the City of Gloucester Website and added Facebook integration.

click the picture to Go To the Gloucester_Ma Twitter Page

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Here is the Link- http://twitter.com/Gloucester_MA

I’ll feature the latest five announcements from the City Of Gloucester In the right hand column of GMG’s sidebar just under the Flickr photos so you can keep up with their announcements in real time as they get posted to their site they will be posted here as well.  Because that’s what we do.  When there is an opportunity to bring you more information faster, we do it.  We don’t have to sit around board meetings and discuss how we are going to handle our communications and if we are going to ignore other media outlets because we perceive them as competition.

The decision process is very simple.  It goes like this.

Will this benefit our viewership?

If the answer is yes, boom we make it happen.  We don’t worry about sending people to other blogs, hell we encourage people to go to other local blogs and highlight the great work that they do.  Why is that?  Because ultimately we all win.

I’ve encouraged this type of cross promotion from day one on GMG.

I’d like to think that we are like Google.

I’m not sure exactly when it happened but when it did happen it was like lightening.  Before Google there were other search engines like Yahoo and Microsoft’s search engine in which Yahoo and Microsoft had a huge portion of the market share for searches.  They were not true to the end user though and returned results that more often than not were based upon ad revenue and not about giving the best search result.

Then came Google.  Google developed a search engine that just flat out gave you the best results right off the bat.  In a very short period of time Yahoo and Microsoft’s search engines were completely overpowered and overshadowed by Google.  Does anyone ever say to “Yahoo it”?  And despite the great strides Microsoft has made with it’s recently launched Bing search engine, they lost so much of people’s trust that even though it’s a great search engine I don’t hear anyone going around saying “Just Bing it”.  No, the term is so popular now that it’s become a verb- You Google it.

Google stayed true to delivering the best search results possible much like we try to do here at GMG- we try to bring you the very best content possible.

Whether it be by linking to a story that The Times did or the Beacon or a great piece by Jay Albert or Kat Valentine ,Steve Borichevsky or Heather Atwood.  We are not afraid to send you to other places and link and promote these other fine folks and organizations because ultimately that makes our readership winners and by them knowing that we are going to the very last mile to bring them the very best we can bring them we know we won’t be losing them but instead we will gain their trust knowing that we want the very best for them.

Terry Weber Represents!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

 

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You can read Terry’s work as a columnist at The Cape Ann Beacon. 

Here’s an article she did about the albino lobster that Mike Tupper landed at our dock last week-

http://www.wickedlocal.com/gloucester/features/x109282011/Albino-lobster-gets-second-chance-thanks-to-reality-TV

Gloucester Featured On Bert The Conqueror On the Travel Channel Wednesday Night at 10PM

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Don’t forget to set your DVRs or tune in Wednesday night on the Travel Channel when Bert The Conqueror takes on the Greasy Pole

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Here is the video I took of Bert walking when it happened live-

You should be alerted to this soon other places

You saw it here first on Good Morning Gloucester.

But of course you knew that

Chickity Check It! Clay Kallman Is Living His Dream-Writes About Gloucester

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Dear Good Morning Gloucester,

Yesterday morning I arrived into downtown Gloucester’s waterfront at about 6:30 am.  While enjoying the beauty of your city I got to talking to Jeremy, one of the chefs at Passports.  He recommended I contact your show and Captain Joe. 

I am a recently retired firefighter/lieutenant/paramedic from Orlando, Fl.  After raising my daughter, taking care of my family, being in charge of a firehouse, trying to be a good boyfriend, I finally unraveled all these responsibilities and took off.  I am now pursuing my passions; travel, writing, photography fitness, adventure and nutrition.

I purchased an I Phone 4, learned the modern technology, created a travel blog, pulled the backseats out of my Aztek and replaced it with a bed, loaded my kayak on my roof, mountain bike on the rear, brought my fishing pole, hiking shoes, and took off on a mission.

My theme is FAN.  Fitness, Adventure, and Nutrition, everyday. I photograph, video and write about my daily experiences.  Today is day 11.  I am sitting at the Lone Gull coffee shop on Main Street, using their wifi and catching up, ready to post my day 10 story about Gloucester. 

I would love to discuss my travels and talk about my impressions of your wonderful city.

Sincerely,

Clay Kallman

Travelpod.com/members/kaleyoday

Facebook/Clay Kallman

 

Click The Link Below For His Post from Gloucester-

Hula Hooping With The Seagulls

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Flag of United States Gloucester, Massachusetts
Sunday, August 1, 2010

Doors slamming, people talking, bumping into my car, I awakened; 5:50 am.
I was in some parking lot in Essex, MA.  It was pitch dark when I arrived last night.  Turns out it is the meeting place for a runner’s club.  And they all were parking around my Aztek.  They had no idea that there was a dude sleeping in the car next to them.
I waited for them to leave, then began my drive to Gloucester.  I followed my GPS locater on my I Phone 4 and took the road to the water. 
I parked next to a house right on Pavilion Beach.  I got out, the cool, crisp air woke my senses.  Piercing blue sky, multi-colored round rocks framed the blue green horseshoe shaped beach My First Site Of Gloucester

My First Site Of Gloucester

.  Sailboats passed by, a women walking her dog; and the seagulls.  The seagulls were talking to me, I swear it.  Not like the lazy, bread begging gulls from Florida.  These gulls were huge, strong and had a real vocabulary.

Red-spotted Admiral Butterflies

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Kim Smith Writes In-

Kim Smith must have the patience of an angel because her butterfly photos are astounding and beautiful.

She writes and has many more pictures of the current butterflies chilling in her garden at her blog- http://kimsmithdesigns.wordpress.com/

Here is just a sample- Red-spotted Purple (Ventral)

The average wingspan of the Red-spotted Admiral is approximately three inches. The White Admiral has a distinctive wide white band on both the forward and hind wings, and on both the dorsal (upperwing) and ventral (underwing) surface. In the Red-spotted Purple, the white band is replaced with a band of iridescent lapis lazuli blue scales. It has evolved to mimic the highly distasteful Pipevine Swallowtail. Red-spotted Purples are found in greater numbers than White Admirals in the eastern part of Massachusetts. The opposite holds true for the western part of the state.

Purportedly, Red-spotted Purples are seen feeding primarily on rotting fruit, sap, and dung— infrequently at flowers—however, I see them nectaring often, and for long periods of time, at flowers. They are particularly fond of butterfly bushes, meadowsweet, Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and Joe Pye-weed.

Hostplants for the Red-spotted Admirals are extremely varied. Both races use cherries, including Chokecherry (Prunus virginiaina), Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Pin Cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica), plum (Prunus), apple (Malus), poplars, cottonwood, aspens, willows (Salix), birches, (Betula), hawthorn (Cratageous), basswood (Tilia), Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), and serviceberry (Amelanchier). The female oviposits a single egg on the upper surface at the tip of a fresh hostplant leaf. Our postage-tamp of a garden is much too small for the aforementioned larger trees, and too shady to grow healthy Prunus and Malus, so I am experimenting with a multi-stemmed Shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis), which I plan to keep pruned to a manageable shrub-size.

Here is one of her videos

Be sure to check out Cape Ann TV where Kim will be appearing on the Cape Ann Report with Heidi Dallin on Wednesday, August 4th at 6:00 pm to talk about her garden and design firm.

Chickity Check It! kevinjhenry.com (ciabat’s site)

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Kevin sends in-

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Luckily I wasn’t tossed into the Brig by the SP’s !

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Our local lobsta’ joint

Best,

Kevin

kevinjhenry.com

Congratulations To Virgilio’s Bakery For Earning one of Boston’s Top 12 Best Sandwiches On Boston.com

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

12 fantastic sandwiches in Boston

Click the link above to go to the Boston.com article

Here are some pictures of my favorites from Virgilios-

Channel 5 Shows GMG Some Love Again

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

And Again They Link Back to GMG in their story which is more than many other news outlets did.  It is duly noted and much appreciated.

Here’s a link to The Albino Lobster Story on The Boston Channel-

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/24428786/detail.html

Here are all the posts to date about the albino lobster–

Chickity Check It!- The 2010 Best of North Shore Award Winners

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Many FOB’s (friends of the Blog) were winners in the prestigious North Shore magazine’s BONS Awards including-

Sugar Mags- Best Breakfast

The Farm Bar and Grille – Readers Choice Best Burger

Coveted Yarn- Best Arts and Crafts Readers Choice

To name a few. I haven’t had time to go through all the lists but there are many more local joints listed as winners. check for yourself-

Click on the links below to see the winners in each of the different categories below

BONS 2010 Categories

Dining

Entertainment and Nightlife

Kids

Service

Shopping

Jeff Schroeder From CBS Amazing Race and Big Brother Came To Gloucester To Film Around The World For Free

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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We hosted him at our house last night along with the crew, director and my boys The Rabbit and Benny Goodman.

But first we had a whole lot of fun in Gloucester.

When I first realized he was coming this way my first thought was to have him go lobstering on one of our boats but then midway through the afternoon the perfect idea for some good tv.

Any of our loyal readership knows about the triple pincher clawed lobster that we got at our dock last Saturday.  it was the first one I had seen like that but we sold it off at the end of the night never really knowing where it was going or if it would be eaten the next day (which I have no problem with BTW). But some of our readers, the newspaper people and television people that came down to cover the story about the triple pincher clawed lobster all asked if we would let it go because it was a “special” lobster.  We don’t take special measures to release these lobsters normally as the afternoons here are all about getting the lobsters in and out of the building as quickly as possible and of course to sell them to people that will pay the bill for said lobsters.

So when in the very same week one of lobstermen Mike Tupper aboard The Freemantle Doctor brought in an albino lobster one of only two I’ve ever seen in my entire life handling millions and millions of pounds of lobsters down here since I was a kid Mike asked if we could keep the lobster in the tank so he could show his father in law.

OK now here is where the idea came to me-  We have Jeff make the decision since the name of the show is Around The World For Free- He could eat the special albino lobster and all the lobster he could eat or he would have to walk the Greasy Pole and earn the right to release the incredibly rare albino lobster back to the sea.  I presented the two options in two envelopes One said EAT THE LOBSTER– The Other  envelope said FREE THE LOBSTER.

Mark Ring,skipper of lobster boat The Stanley Thomas took us out to the Greasy Pole and Jeff made his decision-

Here is Jeff on the Greasy Pole taking some advice from my boy the Rabbit

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Here he is on the pole-

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Jeff Schroeder and Joey Ciaramitaro at The Crows Nest Gloucester MA

More to come from our adventures in Gloucester including video, pictures at Passports, The Crows, Nest and of course the fate of the albino lobster.

Here is the website where Jeff talks about Gloucester-

http://www.cbsaroundtheworld.com/#/journey/the-adventure-begins/photo/139

Chickity Check It! All Things New England Interview With Linda Greenlaw

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Linda Greenlaw: Cowboy of the Sea

Linda Greenlaw

I shut the book and stared at the photos on the cover for a long while. Seaworthy by Linda Greenlaw. What was it about this woman’s face that penetrated through pulp and fiber like sunshine breaking through clouds? Something in the eyes maybe? Vibrant…Focused…Alive! Or perhaps it was the fully engaged smile. Persuasively charming, yet almost impish. Whatever it was, I’d just been consumed like bait on a hook by the ocean of fish that defines her world. And as only a great fisherman could do, she reeled me in with her stories of willingness,determination,  perseverance, and self discovery in good ‘ol fisherman fashion.
Standing 5’3" and 48 years old, there’s no doubt about it…Linda Greenlaw has guts and vitality. For nearly 30 years she has been a fierce competitor in one of the most dangerous professions in America: commercial fishing. She has earned the respect of her peers, is one of the few female captains in the U.S. and is, in fact, the only female swordfish captain in the States to date

For the rest of the story and interview with Linda click the link above

Thanks Jessica Layne for forwarding the story

The Dish Covers Cape Ann Brewing

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

My girls over at The Dish (North Shore Dish if you didn’t already know) came to G Town to cover one of our jewels- Cape Ann Brewing

Chickity Check out Their Story-

Enthusiasm is Brewing on Cape Ann

Posted: July 22nd, 2010

North Shore Dish Photo

Finding ourselves in Gloucester on a recent sultry summer day, we needed to quench our thirst, and where better to find a frosty quaff than Cape Ann Brewing Company? A small craft brewing company, CABC has gained not just a loyal following but a popularity that reaches far beyond local.

In 2002, owner Jeremy Goldberg and a handful of friends decided to travel the country, experiencing 38 craft breweries in 40 days. The result was a documentary film entitled “American Beer, a Bockumentary.” Goldberg then moved to Gloucester to start his own operation, and in 2004, Cape Ann Brewing Company was born.

That’s just to whet your thirst for more North Shore Dish goodness.  For the Rest Of The Story Click The Link-

Enthusiasm is Brewing on Cape Ann

Honesty In Food- Chickity Check It! Author Jane Ward’s Food and Fiction

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

When reading and looking at Author Jane Ward’s Food and Fiction Blog there is one thing that strikes me immediately and that is the honesty in her food.

Not overly dressed or overly prepared, her dishes are simple and elegant and let the gorgeous beauty of nature’s bounty tell the honest story.

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Chickity Check Out her Blog Here

When I had first met Jane it was at The Market Restaurant At Lobster Cove when we had a North Shore Bloggers dinner and true story I didn’t recognize her at the table because I was expecting someone much older from her twitter pic that she had at the time.  (Good job on the new pic Jane. Much better)

you can follow her on twitter as well- @authorjane

some pics from Jane’s Blog-

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Digital Journal Shows GMG Some Love

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Kim I. Hartman writes a piece about the triple pincher lobster that was landed at our dock Saturday. 

Click the picture to go to the article-

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Chickity Check It!- 31st Annual Rockport Acoustic Music Festival Line-up of Performers

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Hi – As promised, here is the Line-up of Performers for the 31st Annual Rockport Acoustic Music Festival

Click on Performers at http://rockportfestival.blogspot.com/

Here is the list:

12:00- Sound Check w/ John, Matt, plus!?

12:30- Brian O’Connor

1:00- Bandit Kings

1:30- The Dejas

2:00- Brad Byrd

2:30- What Time is it Mr. Fox?

3:00- Alek Razdan and The A-Train Orchestra

3:30- Baze Band (Christine, Greg Dann and friends)

4:00- Bob Kramer Band

4:30- Bingo Fridays

5:00- Jam till we’re done with Sonny Fishcakes Music Review

Throughout the day’s setups, experience Diabolis Musica.

Food sales to support Rockport’s own extravaganza – New Years Rockport Eve – Save room for: hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, chips, strawberry shortcakes, desserts, Nisu (Finnish Coffee Bread), popcorn, lemon ice, and beverages.

HERE IS AN OVERVIEW TO USE:

Please join us for the 31st Annual Rockport Acoustic Music Festival

See new info and video at http://www.rockportfestival.com

Sunday, August 15, 2010

In Millbrook Meadow – Across From Front Beach in Rockport, Mass

Noon to 6:00 PM

All Are Welcome for Free

See you there…. for:

BLUES – FOLK – JAZZ – WORLD – BLUEGRASS – JAMS

Food and Fun are always available

Spread the news… tell your friends about http://www.RockportFestival.com

Thanks to everyone for supporting this free community event!

David

David Cutler

http://www.RockportFestival.com

info@rockportfestival.com

617-331-7852

Chickity Check It! Live Bidding Now Online For The Cape Ann Chamber Of Commerce Auction Website

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce
Presents
23RD ANNUAL GOODS & SERVICES AUCTION
Friday, July 16, 2010, Cruiseport Gloucester
Silent Auction 5:30 p.m., Live Auction 7:00 p.m.
$20 admission includes light supper ~ Cash Bar

Planning is underway for the Goods & Services Auction! Don’t miss this great night of fun and great deals!

The Auction Preview Book is now online. Please note that all packages in the book are subject to change prior to the auction. Click here to open the preview.

Don’t forget to check-out the on-line Auction at CapeAnnChamber.cmarket.com
On-line Auction bidding open Wednesday, July 14.

Items featured in the On-Line Auction will be marked with an "On-Line Auction Icon". Click the icon to go to the On-Line Auction.

Chickity Check It! Sprout Robot

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Saw this on Lifehacker this morning

Sprout Robot is pretty freakin cool.  It is a simple site in which you type in your zip code and it tells you what to plant and when to plant it based on your zip code.  They will also send you the seeds if you want to go a little further with it but you don’t have to go the pay for seeds route if you just want to know what is up and coming in the planting world according to the precise area where you live.

Chickity Check it! http://www.sproutrobot.com/

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GROW YOUR GROCERIES!

Chickity Check It!- House Husband’s Cooking Log

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Deej Viau Sent This in-

my neighbor and friends Shoshanna and Michael Gerber are great.  Michael has a new food blog and he is an excellent chef.  He does all the main cooking in their household and is incredibly creative.  He is featuring Bob with some fresh striper he gave Michael.  His recipes are Yummy.  He had us over for Friday night Shabbat not too long ago and the salmon was great!.  He is available to cook for people for a (Fee) of course! Yahoo! so spread the word of his talents and check out his blog.  He’s the guy where you’re constantly saying while you’re chowing "OMG what is in this"!  Great!

So Chickity Check It By Clicking The Picture-

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