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-- Official Bal en Blanc 14 Review!
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| Originally posted by Marcus007 lol i know i laughed when the gazette called bal a mixed crowd event and didnt mention that it started as a gay event |
WELL THEN POST THE DAMN THING IN HERE (sorry, a hybrid Marcus, Zraw & Balenblanc-like post with CAPS)
anyways here it is 
Dancers dig Bal bash
14th annual Easter weekend rave at Palais des Congr�s features non-stop techno and house music - and some outrageous costumes
ANNE SUTHERLAND, The Gazette
Published: 9 hours ago
They could have danced all night. And they did.
Participants of the 14th annual Bal en Blanc bash came stumbling down the escalator at the Palais des Congr�s at noon yesterday, many of them having partied for 12 hours and more.
"It was awesomely awesome," said Katie Gaye, 23, using a pacifier to calm her down
"The line-ups for the bathroom were annoying, though," Gaye said from behind dark glasses.
Sunglasses were de rigueur for most of the participants as was white clothing, some of it barely covering the basics of decency.
Piercings, tattoos, bikini bra tops and fishnet stockings were also abundant. Some women wore punishingly high stiletto heels while others chose sensible ballet flats for their hours of non-stop dancing.
The Bal en Blanc/White Party has been held every year for 14 years on Easter weekend. The dance party/rave features techno and house music spun by DJs and, unlike the largely gay Black and Blue rave, caters to a mixed crowd.
The all-night dancing started at 9:30 on Sunday in the cavernous conference centre which can hold as many as 12,000 people in one room.
Tickets for the White Party cost $100 - with an additional $4 tacked on for police services.
Montreal police officers were very much in evidence both inside the party and out. Signs posted by the lineup area warned there would be a compulsory search of all participants.
Twelve people were arrested for drug possession, and three more men were arrested on charges of drug possession with intent to sell, said Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux.
Pierre Gagn�, 46, turned up dressed as a Maori warrior, in a white, feathery headdress and low-slung, furry loincloth and matching boots.
"I've planned this costume since last year," said Gagn�, who arrived to party at 10:15 Sunday night.
"I've got a baggie in here with my money and (driver's) licence so my money doesn't get wet from sweat," Gagn� said, holding out the front of his loincloth.
His girlfriend, Louise Longtin, 45, was decked out as a Western belly dancer with studded white boots and a bra top.
"Sure, there were line-ups, but there are every year, it's not that bad," Longtin said.
But Travis Duncan, 37, was less than complimentary about a wait he said was three hours long to get into the event.
"We asked a guy about a refund, but no one was taking any responsibility or knew what was going on," said Duncan, a first-timer who said he would never come back to another of these events.
Outside the Palais after the ball, traffic-control police were keeping things moving on St. Antoine St. and doing their fair share of gawking at the skimpy outfits.
"She'll catch a cold dressed like that," one officer commented.
"I don't think she can feel the cold at this point," another laughed.
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Re: ?
I'm with you. VICTOR WAS WOW. I know alot of people who didnt like his set. I think they were expecting less hard. But the guy is playing at 9AM what were they expecting. I think it was just amazing.
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| Originally posted by elie ?? i dont get it~? did no one stick around for Victor?? No comments??? it was incredible?? |
FIXED
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| Originally posted by Spin Laden WELL THEN POST THE DAMN THING IN HERE (sorry, a hybrid Marcus, Zraw & Balenblanc-like post with CAPS) anyways here it is Dancers dig Bal bash 14th annual Easter weekend rave at Palais des Congr�s features non-stop techno and house music - and some outrageous costumes ANNE SUTHERLAND, The Gazette Published: 9 hours ago They could have danced all night. And they did. Participants of the 14th annual Bal en Blanc bash came stumbling down the escalator at the Palais des Congr�s at noon yesterday, many of them having partied for 12 hours and more. "It was awesomely awesome," said Katie Gaye, 23, using a pacifier to calm her down "The line-ups for the bathroom were annoying, though," Gaye said from behind dark glasses. Sunglasses were de rigueur for most of the participants as was white clothing, some of it barely covering the basics of decency. Piercings, tattoos, bikini bra tops and fishnet stockings were also abundant. Some women wore punishingly high stiletto heels while others chose sensible ballet flats for their hours of non-stop dancing. The Bal en Blanc/White Party has been held every year for 14 years on Easter weekend. The dance party/rave features techno and house music spun by DJs and, unlike the largely gay Black and Blue rave, caters to a mixed crowd. The all-night dancing started at 9:30 on Sunday in the cavernous conference centre which can hold as many as 12,000 people in one room. Tickets for the White Party cost $100 - with an additional $4 tacked on for police services. Montreal police officers were very much in evidence both inside the party and out. Signs posted by the lineup area warned there would be a compulsory search of all participants. Twelve people were arrested for drug possession, and three more men were arrested on charges of drug possession with intent to sell, said Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux. Pierre Gagn�, 46, turned up dressed as a Maori warrior, in a white, feathery headdress and low-slung, furry loincloth and matching boots. "I've planned this costume since last year," said Gagn�, who arrived to party at 10:15 Sunday night. "I've got a baggie in here with my pills and (driver's) licence so my money doesn't get wet from sweat," Gagn� said, holding out the front of his loincloth. His girlfriend, Louise Longtin, 45, was decked out as a Western belly dancer with studded white boots and a bra top. "Sure, there were line-ups, but there are every year, it's not that bad," Longtin said. But Travis Duncan, 37, was less than complimentary about a wait he said was three hours long to get into the event. "We asked a guy about a refund, but no one was taking any responsibility or knew what was going on," said Duncan, a first-timer who said he would never come back to another of these events. Outside the Palais after the ball, traffic-control police were keeping things moving on St. Antoine St. and doing their fair share of gawking at the skimpy outfits. "She'll catch a cold dressed like that," one officer commented. "I don't think she can feel the cold at this point," another laughed. [email protected] |
Had the BEST time!!!
(apologies ahead of time for the all-over-the-place review)......sleep deprived and not totally functioning yet 
...........
We were lucky having VIP, we literally had zero line, and was past the security in less than 10 minutes. 
Got in line, after finding all of our friends, around 11:15-11:30 or so. Guess we JUST made the cut for the longest line in BEB history. Didnt even realize that people had to wait for soo long, because a couple friends of ours waited in the regular lineup, and it took them only about an hour?? Wanst like that in past years that I have been...never had a problem, even in the regular lineup......
This was my 5th Bal, and things were different this year (cons first):
Decor:
The decorations were clever, but lack luster. I come to BEB for the ambience of it all, and it wasnt the same in that sense. No huge, flowwy curtains in the massage area, no big lights, no crazy decor. However, that was my ONLY complaint. (oh wait, that AND no preach!! def sad at 9am when I realized my main man wasnt coming on as he usually does!!)
I went there for music and to see friends from canada, and that I did! I couldnt take the smile off my face. I was in absolute clubbing-sinful-heaven....and being around friends (old and new). Couldnt stop moving, dancing, laughing, reminiscing.....
Music:
Insomnia was great for the 20 minutes we saw her. IM is not my taste, but being in VIP and seeing the crowd go MAD had me truly hyped for the rest of the evening to come. They clearly had the crowd by the balls. 
We spent most of that time catching up with old friends, which was perfect...
Ferry is always my fav, and armin destroyed it!! I have never seen menno live and I was truly looking forward to it. I was a little apprehensive about seeing menno at 9am, because he usually plays a little fluffier than I would want at that hour. BOY WAS I F*CKING WRONG!!!!! (proof was in seeing Fahad and his towels going APE SHIT for 2 hours straight....you couldnt even TALK to the man!!) hahah!
Menno was AMAZING, and my energy was higher at 9-11am then it was all damn night!!! The three dutchmen destroyed with trance-classic-techy-mixed HEAVEN The flow was JUST PERFECT.....I LOVED that ferry dropped the classics (goryella, system F, etc) because it was the perfect trance-y buildup for the disaster that armin and menno gave us. wow. just wow. Never stopped dancing, and only took one break to the rest room....I was too afraid to miss anything!! Got to chat with ferry, and heard some amazing news from him Always a pleasure to catch up with him, so friendly and funny as hell! Menno is also such a sweetheart and very loving towards his fans He recongnized my TA name (lol, I heard it ALL night: "you're yankeebaby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAAHHHH!!!")...........and asked if I was dissapointed in his set. haha! are you kidding? He was better than I ever imagined he could be and I told him so. haha the poor kid looked destroyed at 11;30 am and said he needed sleep BADLY!! Awesome energy from his set, jumping (all 6'9" of him!) up on the decks, and getting the crowd at insane levels!! I have NEVER seen either room so packed at 9am-12pm. I tried to go on the floor around 10am, and after 10 minutes of getting squished and jumped all over by the menno-mayhem, I was like "f*ck this, I got VIP for a reason!!)
Heard mixed reviews about the house room. Saw Ceasar, and he was pretty good. I was hearing about the house room getting DESTORYED about 2-3am from many friends, but I couldnt leave mr. corsten The finale of our night was Victor Calderone. What a perfect way to end the night. insane. I coulndt have asked for a better way to end. Nada called it tribal-tech. lol I learn something new everyday. I might have a new genre to learn about awesome.
Btw^^ I love the gays they are nice to look at and super friendly as long as you dont interrupt their blow jobs
People:
This year is the first year that I can say that the men looked better than the women. wow. I dont care who was gay or who was straight, my eyes were waaandering!! 
yummy tight white pants with gucci belts everywhere!! The women were hot until you saw the same "hot women" in the hallway at 8am. 
haha I, myself, looked pretty damn good for most of the night until the dancing truly took over....whoaaaa. sketchy 8am-bathroom-run-in with the mirror!! haha I didnt even recognize myself. lol
All in all, I am still smiling from the insanity of the event. INSANE toons, my fav DJ's, sooo many friends to catch up with (and even people from MTL that I didnt even expect to see!!).
Music 9/10
People: 9/10
Decor: 3/10
VIP: 10/10....sooo much space to dance and only 10 minutes of line
sooo many funny stories that I will inject once I remember. One of the best was people wanting to play with Wai's FRO ALL night. SKETCH!! The security searched for drugs like she had lice, the TV station did a full on interview about her wig and outfit, people were touching it, asking if it was her hair, and even searched for things IN it. Weird seeing people PAWING through your friends hair. tres sketch!!
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| Originally posted by simcoutz Music sucked.... Guetta a jouer comme un dimanche a l'Opera |
as a first timer i had a great time
comeing from nyc you never see anything that massive before so it was a lil bit of a shock..just a sea of people sort of like a big rave but more legal yet still illgal at the same time lol
the crowd was pretty crazy with all the costumes and everything
lots of people doing drugs also montreal is a very open drug scene
saw a few realllll bad lookin people shit was horrible
the decor was...well there was none really lol just everyone in white
and a few glass windows like you see in chuch, place could have used more lighting and lasers imo
onto the music
infected mushroom: they were not bad, to me their music was good but i could not understand a word the vocalist was saying so it was just good music with random blaber over it sort of like the horrible mc at tiesto in concert lol
ferry: imo i enjoyed his set from start to finsh no real boring parts
he played alot of trance tracks not that usual electro/trance crap hes been up to and he did not whore out alll of his songs for once which was good
armin: he had a good set, in the begining it was a lil weird and boring his flow was messed up between ferry just playing trance and armin commin on and playing some slowed down prog into a tech trance into a song like funkagenda- what the fuk lol i would have never expect to hear armin drop that but once he got his flow down he was on point i was on stage just lookin out into the sea of people just go ape-shit and with the music it was dope that closeing song was madddd weird he had the vocals of as the rush comes over some like tribal beat then the words stopped and he did some mix into shine doe-phunk (steve agnello remix) lol again another song i would never expect armin to play
calderone: as everyone said here he is a beast just crazy
i will admit his first half hour was a lil dull but from 9:30 to 10:30 he was in this zone he is known for by just dropping relentless tech that just you did not want to stop
from 10:30 to 11 he slowed it down a lil and killed the vibe for the moment but at 11 he started to pick it back up and by 11:30 he was in on point his closeing was dope
let me set you free with some bits and pieces of elements accapella over it i think?
overall iam very glad i went good people,good music
you canadians do it proper up there
got there around 12.. waited for 2 and a half hours
If anything I figured the lineup situation would improve over last year but instead it was infinitely worse.. if we follow that fire marshall theory I guess next year it will be more relaxed again?
Completely missed out on Infected Mushroom because of the delay which is too bad since I heard they rocked it.. are they the only psytrance act bookable due to name recognition by the way? stayed in the trance room for ferry (main booking I was looking forward to) and he didint disappoint, though I think I liked his set at circus last year just a little more. The tag team moment at the end of ferry's set was nice to see.. two trance legends playing side by side.. but after that was over it got too crowded by armin fans so I was gone..
between 5 and 7 I went exploring the whole place a lot.. it seemed like guetta was playing below people's expectations while armin was playing above them.. sounded like he dropped a lot of tech trance stuff.. definetly more upbeat stuff then his last few appearances in Montreal (is that his new style? or he just changed it for BeB?). That said I didint come to BeB to invest 4 (actually not even 1) hours into armin music so went to see offer nissim.. his act was energetic but the stuff he played did seem kinda house-pop-commercial.. the crowd was eating it up though, anyway if that bodyguard story is true then thats enough reason to replace him by the next guy in line.. no one needs the extra hassle
the plan was to go back for Menno who I was told was droping some heat but after hearing like 20 mins of Victor Calderone I knew that wasnt going to happen.. the guy dropped some of the most evil and sinister sounding music I heard in a while.. the mind-spanking music + the people's energy up front was enough to go ALL OUT until 11:40 when my group decided to depart.
so in short:
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| Originally posted by Passskal Calderone owned bal en blanc 14. |
you mean those church glass windows didnt even have lighting behind them?
Ok umm not for nothing though...i was expecting a much better review+video..
http://www.montreal.tv/portail/view...c5121f9da7815cd
This looks like 0 effort was put into this...come on you guys can do better!
--Funny note though..the song as soon as david guetta comes on in the video is what made me leave the house room after i stepped foot for 10seconds lol...i was like this cant be guetta playin this crap...
oh and after splitting the time almost at equal between the two rooms I think that the trance room had a weird feel.. they were equally hyped about like every track the djs dropped no matter if hard or fluffy.. the house room population seemed to genuinely get more animated n frisky when they liked what was being played.. the gay crowd didin't take away anything from it, its easy to spot 'the moshpit' and there were plenty of mixed crowd spots to pick from
so was anyone denied entrance at all? or were people allowed to refund there tickets and go home?
i mean last year, they were denied entrance. and i don't think it was that bad. kinda interesting though, i stopped by at like 9pm to pick up my tickets and we were kinda laughing at the fact theres already a line up. come back at midnight and yeah.. so we waited 2h30m.
so bad. sucked big time. next time vip or 10pm. heh.
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| Originally posted by Marcus007 you mean those church glass windows didnt even have lighting behind them? |
yeah i thought they were gonna blast the church windows with light to paint the color onto the crowd...
that didnt happen? can someone confirm this?
they were barely lit, if at all...
you know whats the problem? No one checks for these things at these events... yes there's a lightman, but no one tells him to adjust his work... so he just does what he feels is right.
Bal en Blanc need an on site event director, who goes around and checks that everything is functioning.
At the left vip entrance in the house room, the security girl wasn't even checking for the bracelet... what a fucking joke.
so... there's no artistic director walking around to make sure HIS/HER work is done?
that is ridiculous!
Warning: this is my personal view of what I experienced during the Bal en Blanc.
Everyone knows what happened last year with the big fiasco at the door, and for the same reason it was a given most of the people would show up earlier this year. I�m guessing the Bal en Blanc either didn�t care about it, or nobody in the organization thought about this issue. I arrived at 11:10pm and met up with some friends that were already in line - regular ticket holder - and it took us 1h10 to get in to the coat check area.
Then you expect to see organized lines to be search, instead you are left in the dark, like an orgy in waiting, not knowing what is going one because there are a couple of hundred people gathered like cows waiting to be slotted, actually if it had been like that it would had some type of organization.
All of that to go thru one of the weakest search I have ever seen in Montreal. I don�t think there is anything the Bal en Blanc can say to that would excuse what I witness on Sunday night. Later on I found out I had actually made in with not too much trouble, there were people that had waited 2, 3 and even 4 hours to get in.
I tried to shake those bad feeling off, and headed towards the Trance room where Infected Mushrooms were doing their thing, which within 30 seconds I decided it was not my type of music, and moved the other direction to the House room. Right there I met up a friend and we moved ourselves to the middle of the crowd.
Caught the end of Cesar Romero set, but it would be unjust to talk about it because I only experienced the end, but he was moving the crowd. Then the sexy Cedri Gervais was announced and right away he started with some interesting sounds, and you could see the Latin influence of Miami in some of his music. Not sure why but I was unable to fully understand the story telling he was trying to give to the dance floor. Didn�t get totally into his music so I decided to visit the crazy room again.
Ferry Corsten was in charge of the room, and for what I saw and heard, I think he did a good job. You must understand I�m more into house music than trance, and this would totally disqualify me to give any kind of rating. I can only tell you what my body feels, and if the music is good I will dance, and dance I did.
Looked around in both rooms and the stained-glass made more sense in the Trance room than the House room. You could only fully appreciate then when the lights from behind the glass were on, and too much light in the House room doesn�t go well. It was very well done, but I would expect more from the Bal en Blanc in that sense. There was not much more that I can talk about.
Not sure if this is the case, but the theme this year was kind of odd. Last year it was Super Heroes and that was what we got, but with �100% Human�, specially in the politically correct post-September 11 North America, not mentioning no one want the Danish experience repeated in Montreal, it would had been hard to decorate using all those sacred -for some people- symbols. Again, if you want to do it, this is the perfect place to push the envelop, specially since most of the people attending, the key word being MOST, are open minded individuals that are more interest in the music.
I would had loved to see mini stages around the dance floor in the House room, were sexy dancers would give their best moves to the crowd. Then it is hard to envision Maria Magdalena or Judas up to this task, specially since the crowd wouldn�t be allowed to go up due to hazard issues.
Moved back to the House room where the music with very interesting lyrics was playing, ��because we all know is all about the music�today anybody can be a DJ� you just have to play the cheesy music�� Anyway, this was before David Guetta drove the crowd nuts with his appearance. Let me tell you, he received a very nice welcoming intro by the crowd. By then I had been informed one of my friends had suffered a mini panic attach and they had found this reclusive spot right beside the VIP area. The spot was perfect because there was actually room to dance, beside the fact we could keep company to our friend, which ended up having a great time - all of us rotated our presence in this wild dancing spot.
The lyrics from �The World is mine� started to come off the speakers, and actually heard them several times during Guetta�s set. He is cheesy, he is commercial, he is everything everybody talk about, but he made the crowd move at the beginning. Then he just moved me into the boring planet of �why are you so famous land�. He made the crowd sing along, and he dropped most of his commercial hits, but they were not enough to keep me where I was, and it was a good thing because gave me the chance to dance to the tunes of Armin Van Burren.
People, people, people, I don�t get it, you pay tons of money to come to this party, and the only thing you can do is stand around lifting your hands while contagious dance music is being played by Burren? Feel the music, feel the vibration, listen to the anthems, and let you body do the rest. Special note goes to the person holding a flag with Armin written on it. I�m not a DJ, but I think I would had appreciated more if you would had danced to the music instead of adoring me as a god. Again, whom am I to judge, I�m just the shirtless guy dancing like crazy around both room.
Armin was playing tunes that were able to bring out the most energetic dancing I did all night long, and it was easy to open up a dancing space, specially since most of the people are just standing around with his arms up in the air, or just moving his hands with those glow sticks. Anyway, really enjoy his set and then was time to make my way back to the washroom.
Although it is kind of annoying having to walk one floor up, the lines actually move, nothing compared to the 2005 experience when the emergency exit doors were kept closed, and everyone coming or going had to go thru the same area. Allowing the people to use the exit doors to return to the dance floor dramatically improved the �experience�.
My house was calling and just on time to see Offer Nissim take over the decks, and back to the wild dancing spot I went, where I found myself for most of Offer Nissim set.
I said it before and I say it again, I like what Offer Nissim does music wise, but I cannot stand seeing him moving his arms, because the first thing that comes to my mind is �shouldn�t you be mixing?�. I don�t care what anybody else say, he started his set with �Happy People� and then dropped music that made me dance from beginning to end. Escaped a couple of time to catch up with Armin but always went back to spend time with my friends at the wild dancing spot. I did not see what he did, I only heard the music and I danced like crazy.
During his set, it was the first time, out of 3, that �Toca Me� was played without any technical issues. Credic had some problems, and so did Armin - by the way, what was with that sound distortion in the Trance room? Kind of annoying. I would had expected Offer Nissim to change a bit his final part of the set to accommodate the arrival of Victor Calderone, but he even didn�t acknowledged that Victor was waiting behind him for a couple of minutes. Overall, I enjoyed Offer Nissim set, and like it or not, he moved the crowd. By the way, repeat the intro of the same song 6 times, what was that? It was a nice intro, but I really wanted to hear how it ends.
Then the music stop and it was announced the arrival of Victor - by the way, I feel the liberty to call him just Victor because I have written so may reviews of his parties that I feel I already know him, even though I don�t.
Evolve is the name of his parties, and most of you have experience how great his parties are at Stereo in Montreal. Evolve is the best word to describe what has happened to his style in 2007, his music has evolved and I guess I�m lucky that I have evolved with his new style. If you were one waiting to hear his army of tribal and vocals, you probably left the party disappointed. If you were waiting to hear his transition phase of Tribal-minimal-Tech, then you probably also left semi-disappointed. If you were like me, waiting to hear his deep dark Tech (towards techno) then you had an amazing time.
Victor was even dancing and moving his sexy shoulders, and many times I would look up and see this big smile in his face, similar to the one I had all night long once inside the party. The first hour of his set was kind of mellow, kind of warming up the crowd, then he just started to drop bits that drove me nuts - the fusion of techno and house was just too sexy to resist.
In one of my trips to the neverland of the upper floor, I stopped by the Trance room to check out the young Menno de Jong, and man he was moving the crowd with an intensity that was scary, I actually saw people dancing, not just lifting their arms.
Then went back to say adios to Victor, not because I wanted to leave but because my legs were begging me to go. Danced a little bit more and then left with the feeling I had made a good decision to decide to come to this party.
There were tons of beautiful men and women at the Bal en Blanc, and I�m just want to say one thing, if you are one of those scared of shirtless sweaty gay people, please stay home, this is a massive party, and where there is good music, where there is good a good time, where there are beautiful people, where there open minded individuals, you will always find them in the middle. I do have to remark, that the number of gay people were less than the previous year, not sure if it was because more straight people moved into the house room, or because less gay people attended the event.
Regardless of what happened at the beginning of the night, I had an incredible time with my friends, and with the friends of other people. I laughed, I talked, I kissed, and most important of all, I danced, because we all know is all about the music and the dancers.
Bell Centre is soooo much better eh guys? Washrooms, several water fountains, laaaazzzerrrrrs and can we say 21000 comfy chairs?
The only thing Palais has got on Bell is size, better food selection, and the option to ditch fluffy trance whenever you want to 
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| Originally posted by Marcus007 so... there's no artistic director walking around to make sure HIS/HER work is done? that is ridiculous! |
cool review (as always) patius...
the only DJ I regret missing is Victor... Patius... I know what you mean when you mentioned that smile Victor has when he's laying down the rhythm...
He'll be back though... :P
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| Originally posted by Marcus007 you mean those church glass windows didnt even have lighting behind them? |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Patius |
That gay discussion is so ridiculous
I dont get it
At least 50 of my male friends didnt have a shirt on and are far from being gay
Wtf
Does anyone else feel like monday didnt even happen?
lol! all day I keep thinking its tuesday TOMORROW. damn...... 
So much hate on the Indian guy with the flag lol
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