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[Assistant] We must be damn sure not to look like anything human.


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[Assistant] And of course, part of not looking human was that there be no sign of Ravna and Fam. The writers would do all the talking.


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[Assistant] Ravna and the riders went through all the ship's exterior programs weeding out human nuances that had crept in since they left Relay.


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[Assistant] And if they were actually boarded, well, they would never survive a determined search. But they isolated things human in a fake Jovian hold. The two humans would slip in there if necessary.


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[Assistant] Fam knew and checked what they did, and found more than one slip up. For a barbarian programmer, he wasn't bad.


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[Assistant] But then they were rapidly reaching the depths where the best computer equipment wasn't that much more sophisticated than what he had known.


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[Assistant] Ironically, there was one thing they could not disguise, that the OOB was from the top of the beyond. True, the ship was a bottom lugger, and based on a mid-beyond design.


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[Assistant] But there was an elegance to the refit that screamed of nearly superhuman competence.


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[Assistant] The damn thing is the feel of a hand axe built in a factory, was how fam knew and put it.


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[Assistant] RIP or security was an encouraging thing. A perfunctory velocity check and no boarding.


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[Assistant] O.O.B. hopped into the system and finished a rocket burn to match position velocity vector with the heart of harmonious repose and Saint Rendell's repair harbor. Fam, if you're a saint, you gotta be honest, right?


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[Assistant] Out of band was above the ecliptic, and some 80 million kilometers from RIP's single star. Even knowing what to expect, the view was spectacular.


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[Assistant] The inner system was as dusty, gassy as a stellar nursery, even though the primary was a three billion year old G-Star.


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[Assistant] That sun was surrounded by millions of rings, more spectacular than those around any planet. The largest and brightest resolved into myriads more. Even in the natural view, there was bright color here, threads of green and red and violet.


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[Assistant] Warping of the ring plane laid lakes of shadow between colored hillsides. Hillsides a million kilometers across.


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[Assistant] There were occasional objects, structures, sticking far enough up from the ring plane to cast needle-like shadows out system.


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[Assistant] Beyond the rings lay a massive asteroid belt, and far beyond that, a single Jovian planet, its own million-click ring system of puny afterthought. There were no other planets either detected or unfiled.


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[Assistant] The largest objects in the main ring system were 300 kilometers across, but there appeared to be thousands of them.


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[Assistant] At St. Rendell's direction, they brought the ship down to the ring plane and matched velocities with the local junk. At last was a big impulsive burn. Three G's for almost five minutes.


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[Assistant] Just like old, old times. Fam knew and said.


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[Assistant] In a free fall again, they looked out upon their harbor. Up close, it looked like planetary ring systems Ravna had known all her life.


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[Assistant] In the plane of the rings they couldn't see more than a few hundred meters. The debris blocked further views. And it wasn't all loose. Green stock pointed to a line of white that seemed to curve from infinity.


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[Assistant] Pass close by them, and then retreat forever in the other direction.


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[Assistant] Looks like a single structure, she said. Ravna stepped up the magnification.


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[Assistant] In planetary ring systems, the frothy snowballs sometimes accreted into strings thousands of clicks long. The white thread spread wide beyond the window. The display said it was almost a kilometer across. This ark was definitely not made of snowballs. She could see ship locks and communications nodes, checking with images from their approach


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[Assistant] Rafton could see that the whole thing was better than 40 million kilometers long. There were a number of brakes scattered along the arc. That figured.


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[Assistant] The scale tensile strength of such a structure could be near zero.


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[Assistant] Depending on local distortions, it would pull apart briefly, then gently come together sometime later.


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[Assistant] The whole affair was vaguely reminiscent of train cars, coupling and uncoupling on some old-time Nigerian railway.


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[Assistant] Over the next hour, they moved carefully in to dock at the ring arc.


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[Assistant] The only thing regular about the structure was its linearity.


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[Assistant] Others were jumbled heaps of eyeball equipment meshed in dirty ice.


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[Assistant] The last few kilometers they drifted through a forest of ultra-drive spines. Two-thirds of the berths were occupied.


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[Assistant] Blue shell opened a window on St. Rendell's business specs. Hmm. Hmm. Sir Rendell seems extraordinarily busy.


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[Assistant] He angled some fronds back at the ships in the exterior view. Fam. Maybe he's running a junkyard.


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[Assistant] Blue shell and green stock went down to the cargo lock to prepare for their first trip ashore.


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[Assistant] The scrolled writers had been together for 200 years, and Blue Shell came from a star trader tradition before that.


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[Assistant] Yet the two argued back and forth about the best approach to take with Saint Rendell.


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[Assistant] Of course, harmonious repose is typical, dear Blue Shell. I would remember the type even if I'd never ridden a Scrooge. But our business here is not like anything we've done before.


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[Assistant] Blue shell grumped wordlessly and pushed another trade packet under his cargo scarf.


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[Assistant] The scarf was more than pretty. The material was tough elastic stuff that protected what it covered.


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[Assistant] This was the same procedure they had always followed in new ring systems, and it had worked well before.


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[Assistant] Finally, he replied, certainly there are differences mainly that we have very little to trade for the repairs and no previous commercial contacts. If we don't use hard business sense we'll get nothing here.


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[Assistant] St. Rendell was a miser when it came to renting bandwidth, or maybe it was simply cautious. Fam Nguyen's voice came back. No, they're okay. Can you hear me?


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[Assistant] He was speaking through a microphone inside their scrotes. The link itself was encrypted. Yes.


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[Assistant] The Scrooge Riders pass through OOB's locks into St. Rendell's Ark Habitat.


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[Assistant] From within, transparency arched around them, lines of natural windows that dwindled into the distance.


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[Assistant] They looked out upon St. Rendell's current customers and the ring fluff beyond.


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[Assistant] The sun was dimmed in the view, but there was a haze of brightness, a super corona. That was a power satellite swarm, no doubt. Ring systems did not naturally make good use of the central fire.


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[Assistant] For a moment the riders stopped in their tracks, taken by the image of a sea greater than any sea. The light might have been sunset through shallow surf, and to them the drifting of thousands of nearby particles looked like food in a slow tidal surge. The concourse was crowded.


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[Assistant] The creatures here had ordinary enough body plans, though none were of species Greenstalk recognized for certain.


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[Assistant] The tusk leg type that ran St. Rendell's was most numerous.


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[Assistant] Blue shell waggled at Greenstalk. The old story, eh? What good are their legs now? It was the oldest rider humor, but it was always worth a laugh. Two legs or four legs, evolved from flippers or jaws or whatever, were all very good for movement on land, but in space it scarcely mattered.


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[Assistant] The car was making about 100 meters per second, swaying slightly whenever they passed from one ring segment to the next.


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[Assistant] Blue Shell kept up a steady pattern of conversation with their guide.


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[Assistant] The sort of pitch that Greenstock knew was one of his great joys in life.


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[Assistant] Where are we going? What are those creatures there? What sort of things are they in search of at St. Rindel's? All jovial and almost humanly brisk. Where short-term memory was failing him, he depended on his scroed.


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[Assistant] Tusklegs spoke only reduced grammar trisqualine and didn't seem to understand some of the questions.


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[Assistant] Their guide's limited speech bothered Dear Blue Shell not at all. He was collecting responses more than answers. Most races had interests that were obscure to the likes of Blue Shell and Green Stock.


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[Assistant] No doubt there were billions of creatures in harmonious repose who were totally inscrutable to riders or humans or dyrachymes.


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[Assistant] Yet simple dialogue often gave insight on the two most important questions. What do you have that might be useful to me, and how can I persuade you to part with it?


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[Assistant] Dear Blue Shell's questions were sounding out the other, trying to find out the parameters of personality and interest and ability. It was a team game the two scrote riders played.


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[Assistant] While Blue Shell chattered, Greenstalk watched everything around them, running her scrows recorders on all bands, trying to place this environment in the context of others they had known. Technology. What would these people need? What could work?


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[Assistant] In space this flat there would be little use for agrav fabric. And this low in the beyond, a lot of the most sophisticated imports from above would spoil almost immediately.


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[Assistant] Workers outside the long windows wore articulated pressure suits. The forcefield suits of the high beyond would last only a few weeks down here. They passed trees that grew like vines. Some of the trunks circled the wall of the ark. Others trailed along their path for hundreds of meters.


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[Assistant] Tusk-leg gardeners floated everywhere about the plants. Yet there was no evidence of agriculture. All this was ornament.


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[Assistant] In the ring plane beyond the windows there were occasional towers.


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[Assistant] Structures that sprouted a thousand kilometers above the plane.


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[Assistant] And cast the pointy shadows they had seen on their final approach to the system.


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[Assistant] Buzzed against her stock, softly asking Greenstalk about the towers and speculating on the purpose of such unstable contraptions. She stored their theories away for later consideration, but she doubted them. Some would work only in the high beyond, and others were simply uneconomical.


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[Assistant] They were a common consequence of accidents and wars and occasionally of deliberate habitat design.


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[Assistant] According to OOB's library, harmonious repose had been a normal planetary system up till 10 million years ago. Then there'd been a real estate dispute. A young race from below had thought to colonize and exterminate the Moribund inhabitants. The attack had been a miscalculation, for the Moribund could still kill, and the system was reduced to rubble.


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[Assistant] Perhaps the young race survived. But after 10 million years, if there were any of those young killers left, they would now be the most frail of the system's elder races.


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[Assistant] Perhaps a thousand new races had passed through in that time.


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[Assistant] And almost everyone had done something to tailor the rings and the gas cloud left from the debacle. What was left was not a ruin at all, but old, old.


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[Assistant] The ship's library claimed that no race had transcended from harmonious repose in a thousand years. That fact was more important than all the others.


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[Assistant] The current civilizations were in their twilight, refining mediocrity. More than anything else.


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[Assistant] The system had the feel of an old and beautiful tide pool, groomed and tended.


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[Assistant] Shielded from the exciting waves that might upset its bonsai plumes.


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[Assistant] Most likely the tusk legs were the liveliest species about, perhaps the only one interested in trade with the outside. Their car slowed and spiraled into a small tower.


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[Assistant] Pham Nguyen waved at the views coming in from the scrolled cameras.


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[Assistant] Ever since the riders left, he'd been at the windows, alternately gaping wide-eyed at the ringscape.


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[Assistant] And bouncing abstractedly between the command X floor and ceiling. Ravna had never seen him so absorbed, so intense.


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[Assistant] However fraudulent his memories of trading days, he truly thought he could make a difference. And he may be right.


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[Assistant] Fam came down from the ceiling, pulled close to the screen. It looked like serious bargaining was about to begin.


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[Assistant] The scroll riders had arrived in a spherical room, perhaps 50 meters across.


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[Assistant] Apparently they were floating near the center of it. A forest grew inward from all directions, and the riders seemed to float just a few meters from the tree tops.


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[Assistant] Here and there between the branches, they could see the ground, a mosaic of flowers.


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[Assistant] St. Rendell's sales creatures were scattered all about the tallest trees, each sat with its ivory limbs grasping a tree top.


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[Assistant] Tuskleg races were a common thing in the galaxy, but these were the first Ravna had known.


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[Assistant] The body plan was totally unlike anything from home, and even now she didn't have a clear idea of their appearance.


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[Assistant] Sitting in the trees, their legs had more of the aspect of skeletal fingers grasping around the trunk.


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[Assistant] Their chief rep, who claimed to be St. Rendell himself, had Scrimshaw covering two-thirds of its ivory. Two of the windows showed the carving up close.


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[Assistant] FAM seemed to think that understanding the artwork might be useful. Progress was slow.


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[Assistant] Trisqualine was the common language, but good interpreting devices didn't work this deep in the beyond.


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[Assistant] And St. Rendell's people were only marginally familiar with the trade talk. Ravna was used to clean translations.


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[Assistant] Even the net messages she dealt with were usually intelligible, though sometimes misleadingly so.


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[Assistant] They've been talking for 20 minutes and it only just established that Saint Rendell might have the ability to repair OOB.


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[Assistant] It was the usual riderly driftiness and something more. The tedium seemed to please Fam Nguyen.


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[Assistant] Rav, this is almost like a cheng ho operation. Face to face with critters and scarcely a common language.


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[Assistant] We sent them a description of our repair problem hours ago. Why should it take so long for a simple yes or no?


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[Assistant] Because they're haggling, said Fam. Is Brynn broadening. Honest St Bryndell here.


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[Assistant] Even Blue Shell and Greenstalk seemed a little strange now. Their trisculine was stripped down, barely more complex than St Rendell's, and much of the discussion seemed very roundabout.


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[Assistant] Working for Vrenemy, Ravna had had some experience with sales and trading. But haggling?


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[Assistant] You had your pricing databases and strategy support and directions from Gronder's people.


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[Assistant] You either had a deal or you didn't. What was going on between the Riders and Saint Rindel was one of the more alien things Ravna had ever seen. Actually, things are going pretty well, I think.


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[Assistant] You saw when we arrived, the bone legs took away Blue Shell's samples. By now they know precisely what we have. There's something in those samples that they want. Yeah? Sure. St. Brindale isn't bad mouthing our stuff for his health. Dammit, it's possible we don't have anything on board they could want. This was never intended to be a trade expedition.


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[Assistant] Blue Shell and Green Stock had scavenged product samples from the ship's supplies, things that the OOB could survive without.


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[Assistant] These included Sensoria and some low beyond computer gear. Some of that would be a serious loss, but one way or another we need the repairs. Fam chuckled, no.


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[Assistant] There's something there Saint Rendell wants, otherwise he wouldn't still be jawing.


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[Assistant] See how he keeps needling us about his other customers' needs? St. Rendell is a human kind of a guy.


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[Assistant] Ravna phased Greenstock's cameras toward the sound.


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[Assistant] From the forest floor on the far side of blue shell, three new creatures had appeared. Why, they're beautiful. Butterflies, said Ravna. Huh? I mean, they look like butterflies. You know?


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[Assistant] At full spread they were almost two meters across, soft blues and yellows, some more intricately patterned than others.


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[Assistant] Surely, they were artificial, or a gene-engineered affectation.


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[Assistant] Some would have been useless for flying about in any reasonable gravity, but here in zero-g,


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[Assistant] The three floated at the entrance for just a moment, their huge soft eyes looking up at the riders.


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[Assistant] Then they moved their wings in measured sweeps and drifted gracefully into the air above the forest. The entire effect was like something out of a children's video.


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[Assistant] They had pert button noses like pet joricorns, and eyes as wide and bashful as any human animator ever drew. Their voices sounded like youngsters singing.


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[Assistant] Saint Rindal and his buddies sidled around their treetops. The tallest visitors sang on, its wings gently flexing.


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[Assistant] After a moment, Ravna realized it was speaking fluent Trisk with a front end adapted to the creature's natural speech.


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[Assistant] So maybe our friendly repairman really is overbooked, she said. Yeah.


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[Assistant] St. Rangel came back around his tree top, his little arms picked at the green needles as he made a reply.


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[Assistant] What do you know? Fam said. Butterflies in jackboots.


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[Assistant] Do you ever feel yourself kinda separated? I mean, as if you're in more than one piece.


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[Assistant] Reckon you folks don't know Henry Carson here. John and Jenny Wilhart.


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[Assistant] Oh, it isn't. Oh, you're wrong, Mr. Wilhart. Henry weren't looking for us.


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[Assistant] Chapter 75, before Annas and the court of Caiaphas.


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[Assistant] Over the Brook Kedron, past gardens and olive groves and through the hushed streets of the sleeping city, they hurried Jesus. It was past midnight.


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[Assistant] Anas was the head of the officiating priestly family, and in deference to his age he was recognized by the people as High Priest.


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[Assistant] He must first see Jesus a captive to priestly power. He must be present at the examination of the prisoner.


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[Assistant] His artifice, cunning and subtlety must be used on this occasion for, at all events, Christ's condemnation must be secured.


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[Assistant] Christ was to be tried formally before the Sanhedrin, but before Annas he was subjected to a preliminary trial.


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[Assistant] Under the Roman rule, the Sanhedrin could not execute the sentence of death. They could only examine a prisoner and pass judgment to be ratified by the Roman authorities.


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[Assistant] An accusation must also be found which would condemn him in the eyes of the Jews.


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[Assistant] Not a few among the priests and rulers had been convicted by Christ's teaching, and only fear of excommunication prevented them from confessing Him.


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[Assistant] Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth?


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[Assistant] The question had for the time broken up the council and thwarted their plans.


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[Assistant] Joseph of Amitya and Nicodemus were not now to be summoned, but there were others who might dare to speak in favor of justice.


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[Assistant] There were two charges, which the priest decided to maintain. If Jesus could be proved a blasphemer, he would be condemned by the Jews.


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[Assistant] Then, the priest could deliver him to the Romans as a disturber of the peace and a creator of insurrection. Christ read the priest's purpose as an open book.


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[Assistant] or that he gathered them secretly and in the darkness to conceal his designs.


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[Assistant] He had no secrets in regard to his purposes or doctrines. I speak openly to the world, he answered. I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple whether the Jews always resort, and in secret I have said nothing.


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[Assistant] His trial by men who acted as fiends was to him a perpetual sacrifice.


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[Assistant] He could compel his persecutors to confess that he was Lord above kings and rulers, priests and temple. But it was his difficult task to keep to the position he had chosen as one with humanity.


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[Assistant] The angels of heaven witnessed every movement made against their loved commander. They longed to deliver Christ. Under God, the angels are all powerful.


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[Assistant] Yet he was bound to signify that he was condemned. There must, however, be a pretense of justice. It was necessary that there should be a form of a legal trial. This the authorities were determined to hasten. They knew the regard in which Jesus was held by the people.


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[Assistant] If the trial and execution were not brought at once there would be a week's delay on account of the celebration of the Passover. This might defeat their plans.


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[Assistant] Their proceedings would be condemned and Jesus would be set free to receive new homage from the multitudes. The priests and rulers therefore determined that before their purpose could become known, Jesus should be delivered into the hands of the Romans.


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[Assistant] But first of all, an accusation was to be found. They had gained nothing as yet. Annas ordered Jesus to be taken to Caiaphas.


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[Assistant] He himself, though wanting in force of character, was fully as severe.


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[Assistant] By the light of torches and lanterns, the armed band with their prisoner proceeded to the high priest's palace.


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[Assistant] Here, while the members of the Sanhedrin were coming together, Annas and Caiaphas again questioned Jesus, but without success, when the council had assembled in the judgment hall.


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[Assistant] The people compared the excitement and malignant deportment of Annas and Caiaphas with the calm, majestic bearing of Jesus.


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[Assistant] Even in the minds of that hardened multitude arose the question, is this man?


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[Assistant] Of god-like presence to be condemned as a criminal? Caiaphas, perceiving the influence that was obtaining, hastened the trial.


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[Assistant] The members of the council were divided between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There was bitter animosity and controversy between them.


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[Assistant] The Sadducees in their sharp contentions with the Pharisees had used to them similar language, and such testimony would have no weight with the Romans.


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[Assistant] That Jesus had disregarded the tradition of the Jews and had spoken irreverently of many of their ordinances. But in regard to tradition,


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[Assistant] False witnesses had been bribed to accuse Jesus of inciting rebellion and seeking to establish a separate government, but their testimony proved to be vague and contradictory.


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[Assistant] Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. In the figurative language of prophecy.


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[Assistant] He had thus foretold his own death and resurrection. He spake of the temple of his body.


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[Assistant] His words contain nothing which would be regarded by the Romans as a crime worthy of death. Patiently, Jesus listened to the conflicting testimonies.


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[Assistant] No word did he utter in self-defense. At last his accusers were entangled, confused and maddened


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[Assistant] To this appeal, Christ could not remain silent. There was a time to be silent and a time to speak.


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[Assistant] But the appeal was made by the highest acknowledged authority of the nation, and in the name of the Most High.


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[Assistant] Him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Now, by his own example, he repeated the lesson.


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[Assistant] Then every secret thing would be set in the light of God's countenance, and judgment be passed upon every man according to his deeds.


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[Assistant] Was this man a prisoner before him to assail his most cherished theories? Rending his robe that the people might see his pretended horror, he demanded that without further preliminaries, the prisoner be condemned for blasphemy.


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[Assistant] Under no circumstances, on no occasion was the priest to rent his robes.


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[Assistant] And His glory and perfection must be represented by the earthly service. Nothing but perfection.


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[Assistant] The high priest who dared to appear in holy office and engage in the service of the sanctuary with a rent robe was looked upon as having severed himself from God.


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[Assistant] His act was significant of the place that the Jewish nation, as a nation, would thereafter occupy toward God.


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[Assistant] On every side, meeting with mockery of his claim to be the son of God, his own words, sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven, were juryingly repeated. While in the guard room, awaiting his legal trial, he was not protected. The ignorant rabble had seen the cruelty with which he was treated before the council.


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[Assistant] While he was undergoing the mockery of an examination before Caiaphas, Christ had been denied by one of his own disciples.


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[Assistant] After deserting their master in the garden, two of the disciples had ventured to follow at a distance the mob that had Jesus in charge. These disciples were Peter and John.


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[Assistant] John spoke in favour of Peter and gained an entrance for him also.


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[Assistant] A company drew about the fire, and Peter presumptuously took his place with them.


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[Assistant] But as the light flashed upon Peter's face, the woman who kept the door cast a searching glance upon him. She had noticed that he came in with John. She marked the look of dejection on his face and thought that he might be a disciple of Jesus.


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[Assistant] He did not mingle with the rough company who were reviling his master. He was not questioned.


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[Assistant] He sought a retired corner, secure from the notice of the mob, but as near Jesus as was possible for him to be.


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[Assistant] An hour had passed when one of the servants of the high priest, being a near kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked him, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Surely thou art one of them.


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[Assistant] While the degrading oaths were fresh upon Peter's lips, and the shrill crowing of the cock were still ringing in his ears,


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[Assistant] The falseness of which was unknown even to himself. A tide of memories rushed over him. The Savior's tender mercy, his kindness and long-suffering,


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[Assistant] The scene of a few hours before came vividly to his mind. The suffering face of his Lord.


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[Assistant] When Jesus bade him watch and pray that Peter had prepared the way for his great sin.


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[Assistant] He knew how Satan would work to paralyze their senses that they might be unready for the trial. Therefore it was that he gave them warning.


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[Assistant] Peter would not have been left to depend upon his own feeble strength. He would not have denied his Lord.


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[Assistant] Had the disciples watched with Christ in his agony, they would have been prepared to behold his suffering upon the cross. They would have understood in some degree


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[Assistant] Amid the gloom of that most trying hour, some rays of hope would have lighted up the darkness and sustained their faith.


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[Assistant] As soon as it was day, the Sanhedrin again assembled.


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[Assistant] And they knew that the Roman tribunal would find in them nothing worthy of death.


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[Assistant] But if from his own lips, they could all hear those words repeated, their object might be gained.


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[Assistant] His claim to the messiahship they might construe into a seditious political claim.


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[Assistant] They continued to ply him with questions. At last, in tones of mournful pathos, he answered, If I tell you, ye will not believe me. And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.


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[Assistant] And so by the third condemnation of the Jewish authorities, Jesus was to die. All that was now necessary they thought,


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[Assistant] When the condemnation of Jesus was pronounced by the judges, a satanic fury took possession of the people. The roar of voices was like that of wild beasts. The crowd made a rush toward Jesus, crying, He is guilty, put Him to death.


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[Assistant] To condemn a man to death upon his own testimony, this intervention brought a momentary lull in the proceedings. But the Jewish leaders were dead, alike to pity and to shame.


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[Assistant] One day the base men who scorned and spat upon the calm pale face of Christ will look upon it in its glory, shining brighter than the sun.


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[Assistant] The feudal lords of Japan, Daimyo, were first and foremost warriors.


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[Assistant] The primary obligation of their lives was maintaining constant readiness to do battle on behalf of their overlord, the Shogun.


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[Assistant] The sword, accordingly, was the principal tool of the daimyo's métier, and symbol of the values by which he lived.


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[Assistant] Inscribed with the name of the swordsmith who forged it and with its own name and provenance.


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[Assistant] A long sword like this one, a national treasure, was passed down through warrior families for generations.


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[Assistant] Accumulating its own legend over time and a distinct personality known and feared by enemies who had to test themselves against its edge.


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[Assistant] In 1336, the warrior leader Takauchi Ashikaga from eastern Japan occupied the western capital of Kyoto. Takauchi banished the emperor, installed a surrogate on the throne, and declared himself shogun. With the Ashikaga shogunate now in Kyoto,


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[Assistant] The warrior class was exposed to the influence of courtly elegance.


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[Assistant] By the mid-fourteenth century, the Daimyo was aspiring to more than skill at battle.


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[Assistant] As a result of his contact with nobles from the imperial court and Zen monks steeped in Chinese culture,


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[Assistant] He was also committed to becoming a man of cultivated taste.


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[Assistant] This obliged him to develop not only his warrior skills, but a genuine appreciation for the peaceful arts. Landscape gardening and architecture. Poetry, painting and calligraphy.


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[Assistant] This paradoxical ideal became known as the dual way of the sword and the writing brush.


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[Assistant] The tension created between its poles of force and delicacy is the animating energy of daimyo culture.


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[Assistant] Mr. Isaburo Nakamura is a kendo master of the 8th level.


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[Assistant] Calligraphy was one of the disciplines that Daimyo practiced as part of his training in the dual way. In China, as well as Japan,


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[Assistant] The art of calligraphy was esteemed along with poetry and painting as one of the three excellences.


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[Assistant] A man's calligraphy was seen as a reflection of his inner self, his power, integrity, and ethical correctness.


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[Assistant] Mr. Shinzan Kamijo, 81, is an eminent calligrapher with a bold and forceful style which recalls the medieval period.


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[Assistant] Mr. Kamijou completes the scroll and makes it a valuable work of art by adding his signature, Shinzan.


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[Assistant] The first Chinese character means contain. The second, radiance. This two-character compound, gangko.


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[Assistant] Was the name of a mythological sword from the Shang dynasty in ancient China.


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[Assistant] It also came to mean the internal radiance which suffuses all superior action, whether in art or public behavior.


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[Assistant] Mr. Morisada Hosokawa, author, cultural historian, and director of the Eisei Bunko Foundation and Museum, is descended from an illustrious Daimyo family which reaches back to the 13th century.


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[Assistant] His great-great-grandfather was the last Hosokawa Daimyo.


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[Assistant] Mr. Hosokawa was raised on stories about his warrior ancestors.


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[Assistant] The life of Sansai Hosokawa, born in 1563, was a paradigm of the dual way.


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[Assistant] Sansai first went to battle at the age of fifteen and earned the favor of the overlord Nobunaga.


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[Assistant] A formidable warrior in the battlefield for 20 of the most turbulent years in Japanese history, Sansai also served and fought under Hideyoshi, one of the unifiers of feudal Japan.


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[Assistant] at the same time he was a noted scholar and natural scientist a designer of armor


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[Assistant] And an intimate disciple of Japan's greatest master of the tea ceremony, Rikyu Sen.


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[Assistant] For his valor in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, where he fought on the side of the victorious Tokugawa.


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[Assistant] And later moved to today's city of Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu. It was here as Lord of the Hosokawa Domain.


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[Assistant] That he established his own school of tea to maintain the tradition of the ceremony as it had been reshaped by his master, Rikyu.


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[Assistant] This is the tea garden in Kumamoto, which Sansai designed for his own use.


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[Assistant] Tea was brought to Japan originally from Tang Dynasty China by Buddhist monks.


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[Assistant] Over time, the preparation and serving of the tea evolved into a Zen discipline for focusing awareness. In the 14th century,


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[Assistant] Zen monks introduced tea to the imperial court and the warrior class. The Zen resonance remained strong.


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[Assistant] But in the hands of the Daimyo warrior, the tea ceremony became more an aesthetic experience than a monastic discipline.


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[Assistant] At the stone water basin in front of the tea house, symbolically, with every motion prescribed, the invited guest washes away the dust of the material world and enters the purified domain of the tea ceremony.


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[Assistant] In Sansai's day, the guest might well have been a daimyo from a neighboring domain.


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[Assistant] The host was at pains to prepare for his guest, a pleasurable experience.


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[Assistant] The scroll hanging in the alcove just inside the entrance will be a poem chosen by the host because it fits the season and this particular occasion.


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[Assistant] The full significance of the tea ceremony practiced by Daimyo warriors like Sansai Hosokawa.


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[Assistant] ...is best appreciated in the context of a country torn by civil war.


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[Assistant] Just outside the cramped space of the tea house, the reality of the 16th century was the chaos and terror of battle and the hovering presence of death.


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[Assistant] The tea ceremony with its demands on the Daimyo's total concentration.


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[Assistant] Function to isolate him from that overwhelming reality so that he could prepare himself to meet it.


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[Assistant] The tea bowl is warmed with boiling water and carefully dried before the thick powdered tea called matcha is prepared. This 16th century bowl is a priceless masterpiece. Black Raku by the founding Raku potter Chojiro.


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[Assistant] The rest of the utensils used will have been selected to enhance the special beauty of this centerpiece. The harmony of all details is of key importance.


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[Assistant] The bamboo teaspoon was fashioned by the 8th generation Hosokawa Daimyō, Shigekata.


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[Assistant] In the preciseness of every designated move, one feels the presence of Zen discipline.


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[Assistant] The exact position on the tatami mat of each of the utensils is also designated.


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[Assistant] Nothing is accidental, including the sounds of the ceremony.


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[Assistant] He turns the most beautiful surface of the bowl outward toward the guests.


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[Assistant] The states of mind prescribed by Rikyu as the goal of tea ceremony were harmony, respect, purity, and stillness. Difficult states to attain in a frenzied world, but a sublime preparation for battle.


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[Assistant] The 16th century is filled with stories of daimyo generals who took their tea utensils with them to the battlefield.


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[Assistant] Midway through the 16th century, tea had evolved into an excuse for the ostentatious display of valuable tea utensils.


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[Assistant] Hideyoshi, a lover of tea and Riku's patron, hosted lavish tea parties for both Daimyo and court nobles and built a tea room covered in gold leaf.


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[Assistant] Riku both chastened the ceremony and enriched it with a new dimension. The appreciation of utensils was retained.


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[Assistant] But Rikyu asserted that any simple tea bowl was appropriate if handled in the proper spirit.


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[Assistant] In Riku's hands, Chi became the occasion for two warriors to share the poignant realization that life was a fleeting moment.


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[Assistant] In fact, host and guest were to observe and savor every detail of the ceremony as if this were to be their final meeting in this life.


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[Assistant] As if the very violence of the times created in the warrior a need for beauty and refinement.


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[Assistant] The merging of courtly elegance and the warrior sensibility at the heart of the dual way is plain to see.


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[Assistant] One of the earliest patrons of the Noh Theater was the third Ashikaga Shogun, Yoshimitsu.


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[Assistant] In 1397, Yoshimitsu built for himself to the northwest of Kyoto.


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[Assistant] A retirement villa called Kitayama, which included the Golden Pavilion.


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[Assistant] Retreating here from the chaos of the times, he drew around himself a coterie of poets, painters, tea masters, and zen monks.


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[Assistant] Performances of no plays were frequently included in the evenings he hosted here.


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[Assistant] Mr. Otoshige Sakai belongs to the Noh School, directly descended from the troop patronized by Yoshimitsu.


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[Assistant] His three sons are already in training to carry on the family tradition.


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[Assistant] Mr. Sakai had his debut on the Noh stage at the age of three and performed his first leading role at age eight. In acknowledgement of his consummate skill as a performer.


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[Assistant] Mr. Sakai has been designated a bearer of important intangible cultural assets, the Japanese equivalent of cultural knighthood.


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[Assistant] Mr. Sakai will perform the climactic dance from Funa Benkei, Benkei at Sea. He plays the anguished spirit of a vanquished warrior.


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[Assistant] The demon rises from beneath the waves to avenge himself and his clansmen by destroying his conqueror in life, the warrior Yoshitsune. To convey the purity and innocence for which he stands,


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[Assistant] The role of Yoshitsune is normally played by a child actor. In this style of performance, Mai Byashi.


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[Assistant] Only the demon protagonist appears on stage and performs without robes or masks.


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[Assistant] Mr. Sakai rehearses the same scene from Benkei at Sea with his 10-year-old son Otoharu, playing Yoshitsune.


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[Assistant] Early in the 17th century, a great peace settled over Japan.


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[Assistant] In the absence of war, Daimyo had increasing difficulty maintaining the dual way.


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[Assistant] As a result, the daimyo turned their energy increasingly to the peaceful arts.


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[Assistant] When they were not building or restoring castles on orders from the shogunate.


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[Assistant] They installed elaborate landscape gardens on their estates.


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[Assistant] Their passion for tea intensified.


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[Assistant] Every daimyo with a domain of any size had to have his own tea house, personal tea master, and collection of rare utensils.


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[Assistant] They also competed in sponsoring no actors, building stages on their own estates, and collecting masks and robes.


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[Assistant] In fact, the survival of these peaceful arts into modern Japan is due in large measure to Daimyo patronage during the 250 years of the Tokugawa peace.


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[Assistant] Considering that this art and theater was also shaped significantly by the warrior sensibility, the daimyo contribution to Japanese culture must be considered vast and everlasting.


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[Assistant] Our only desire was to preach and proclaim the law of the Creator. Even if there were only one Japanese Christian in the whole country, any missionary would spend all his life here just for the sake of that one person.


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[Assistant] While others believe that he set fire to the palace and perished in the flames. What we do know however, is that of this man,


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[Assistant] Who made everyone tremble not only at the sound of his voice, but at the mention of his name. There did not remain even a small hair which was not reduced to dust and ashes.


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[Assistant] They were drawn along the streets in the carts, the open view of the world. Thirty-one ladies and gentlemen, with the two sons and one daughter of his adopted son, the oldest of whom was not more than five years old. All their bodies were thrown into a pit, over which was built a little chapel with a tomb in it, with this inscription, The Tomb of the Traitors.


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[Assistant] In other streets, there are cobblers, blacksmiths, tailors, and traders.


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[Assistant] The nobles and people of quality live in the streets and districts quite different from the rest of the town


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[Assistant] There entered one of the greatest nobles of Japan. Whose rank was evident from the gifts he brought. Bars of silver and gold. Silk robes. All this was first placed on some tables. But I do not believe the ruler even looked at it.


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[Assistant] A hundred paces from the throne, the Daimyo prostrated himself, bowing his head so low that it looked as if he wanted to kiss the ground.


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[Assistant] Nobody said a word to him, nor did he raise his eyes towards the ruler.


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[Assistant] In the battlefield especially, your last moment of life, you have to show your control.


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[Assistant] The controlling your body, controlling your destiny, fate.


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[Assistant] Is the vindication, indication of your internal strength.


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[Assistant] So it's a last moment that you have to stage your test.


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[Assistant] And very active publishing activities.


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[Assistant] Wearing oversized kimono with interesting hairstyles, sometimes skinhead, as well as protest.


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[Assistant] In spite of the fact that I took no part in the horsey conversation, I didn't feel out of place here at all.


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[Assistant] Old Alec acted as though I were merely part of the landscape.


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[Assistant] And while Jamie cast an occasional glance my way,


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[Assistant] Sure sign of a Scott's emotional involvement in his subject matter. Since I gathered no sense from the talk,


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[Assistant] Oddly contented and drowsy, I pushed away all thoughts of column suspicions, my own predicament, and other disturbing ideas. Sufficient unto the day, I thought.


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[Assistant] Or the changed tone of the men's conversation that woke me sometime later. The talk had switched back to English, and the tone was serious.


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[Assistant] No longer the meandering chat of the horse obsessed. It's no but a week till the gathering laddie, Alec was saying. Have you made up your mind what you'll do then? There was a long sigh from Jamie. No Alec, that I haven't eh. Sometimes I think one way, sometimes the other.


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[Assistant] Granted that it's good here, working with the beasts and with you.


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[Assistant] There was a smile somewhere in the young man's voice which disappeared as he went on. And Columns promised me to... Well, you'll not know about that.


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[Assistant] But kiss the iron and change my name to Mackenzie and forswear all I'm born to. Nay, I cannot make up my mind to it. Stubborn as you die, yar, remarked Alec, though the words held a tone of grudging approval.


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[Assistant] You've the look of him about you sometimes, for all your tall and fair as your mother's folk. Knew him, did you? Jamie sounded interested. Oh, I bet. And heard more. Have been here at Leoch since before your parents' wed, you kid.


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[Assistant] And to hear Dougal and Colum speak of Black Brian.


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[Assistant] I think he was the deal himself, if not worse. And your mother, Virgin Mary, swept away to the bad place by him. Jamie laughed. And I'm like him, am I? You are and all that, laddie.


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[Assistant] Aye, I see why it's sticking your craw to big column's man wheel enough. But there's considerations the other way, no?


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[Assistant] Come out on the right side in that fight laddie and you'll hear your land back and more besides whatever column does.


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[Assistant] Jamie replied with what I'd come to think of as a Scottish noise. That indeterminate sound made low in the throat that can be interpreted to mean almost anything.


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[Assistant] This particular noise seemed to indicate some doubt as to the likelihood of such a desirable outcome. Aye.


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[Assistant] He said, and if Dougal doesn't get his way, then what? Or if the fight goes against the House of Stuart? Alec made a guttural sound of his own. Then you stay here, laddie. Be master of horse in my place. I'll not last so much longer. And there's no better hand I've seen we a horse.


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[Assistant] What do you mean it can't be? You old women never believe anything but quack doctors and lying storybooks.


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[Assistant] Mothers, concubines, and daughters all stayed in the tower and cast bullets.


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[Assistant] We weren't a bit afraid of the heads and used to sleep in the midst of the nasty smell of bloody heads.


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[Assistant] Having grown up with an admittedly difficult childhood, Dwayne Dog Chapman held nothing back when he described his painful early years in his 2007 autobiography, You Can Run But You Can't Hide.


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[Assistant] And I shouldn't have been the person I was back then. Chapman was released on parole after serving 18 months of a five-year prison sentence, but that conviction continued to impact Chapman's life decades later, when he was cast on the UK's version of Celebrity Big Brother.


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[Assistant] Chapman told The National Enquirer, Christopher's mom, Debbie White, took her own life in the 70s while I was in a Texas prison doing 18 months. I didn't know I had a son until I got out. While the two formed a relationship after Hecht reached adulthood, Christopher has had a difficult life, struggling with alcohol abuse, legal trouble,


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[Assistant] While Dog was serving his prison sentence in the late 70s, he and his first wife split up.


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[Assistant] Anne M. Tangle, with whom he shares three children, according to Entertainment Tonight. One of them, a baby boy named Zebediah, was born prematurely on January 1, 1980, and sadly passed away just 30 days later. Chapman and Tangle's marriage didn't survive this tragic loss, and the couple divorced.


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[Assistant] Chapman would go on to get married and divorced two more times before meeting the woman who would become the love of his life, Beth Chapman.


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[Assistant] The two tied the knot in Hawaii in May 2006. However, their big day was marred by another tragic loss. On the evening before the ceremony, Duane received some devastating news. His 23-year-old daughter, Barbara Katie Chapman, had passed away in a car accident near her home in Fairbanks, Alaska.


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[Assistant] As Chapman's publicist told the news outlet, Chapman met with a minister to discuss the best course of action. It was mutually agreed upon that the wedding would go ahead as scheduled, while using the reception as a celebration of Barbara's life.


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[Assistant] In 2011, Chapman was awarded temporary custody of his then 9-year-old grandson, Travis Mims Jr. According to Radar Online, a judge made the decision after hearing a shocking


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[Assistant] He said, Later telling the tabloid that he was, quote, shocked and heartbroken over the abuse, Chapman revealed that his actions resonated with his late daughter's last words to him.


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[Assistant] Chapman and his family received menacing emails that contained graphic threats of violence.


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[Assistant] According to Radar Online, the FBI began investigating the messages that May, which threatened an array of heinous acts against the family. The Chapmans later issued a statement to confirm that the story was indeed true and that the reported threats against their lives were real.


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[Assistant] Chapman has unfortunately had some rather fraught relationships with some of his children, and that has definitely been the case with daughter Lyssa Chapman, who's made headlines over the years for supposedly feuding with late stepmom Beth amid her battle with cancer in 2017.


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[Assistant] In 2017, Beth and Dog received some devastating news. Beth had a stage 2 cancerous tumor growing in her throat. As The Blast reported, she underwent a 12-hour surgery that September to remove the tumor, which was seemingly successful. And an A&E special, Dog and Beth, The Fight of Their Lives, aired that November.


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[Assistant] Featuring the dog the Bounty Hunter couple celebrating when Beth was deemed cancer-free, Chapman said at the time, via E! News, this could be a miracle. Sadly, their happiness was short-lived.


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[Assistant] In November 2018, the Chapman's attorney, Andrew Brettler, told Fox News that Beth had experienced difficulty breathing and was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital where a mass was found in her throat. During an emergency surgery, doctors discovered the cancer had returned. Brettler said,


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[Assistant] As Beth continued to try alternative treatments, Dog kept fans updated on her condition, but sadly, in June 2019,


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[Assistant] Chapman was understandably devastated by Beth's untimely passing in 2019. His mourning, however, was cut short by a medical emergency of his own that September. Just three months after Beth passed away, Dog was hospitalized after complaining of chest pains at his home in Colorado.


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[Assistant] That report turned out to be inaccurate, but not too far off.


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[Assistant] Duane himself later announced he'd been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, potentially lethal artery blockage.


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[Assistant] Speaking with The New York Times in January 2020, Chapman revealed that doctors had recommended he stay in the hospital to receive treatment, but he refused. Instead, he said he checked himself out, adding,


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[Assistant] He pushed an orderly up against a wall because he wouldn't let me leave. They couldn't stop me.


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[Assistant] During an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show, which was teased shortly after the reality star's hospitalization, Dr. Oz didn't pull any punches about the seriousness of Chapman's condition, chastising him for ignoring care that could save his life and encouraging him to put his mental and physical health first. The doctor added,


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[Assistant] The loss of his beloved wife and the new knowledge that he had a serious health condition to confront would be enough of a hit for anyone to handle. But unfortunately, Chapman experienced even more misfortune in late 2019. He was completely out of money.


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[Assistant] In his January 2020 interview with The New York Times, Dog discussed his latest bounty hunting job.


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[Assistant] Chapman's quote, biggest bond he'd ever written, noting that he would be responsible for paying if he didn't catch the person. If the famous bounty hunter, who was also reportedly in charge of handling his late wife's estate, came up short and didn't manage to bring in the fugitive, he also faced losing his Colorado home to the bank.


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[Assistant] Conceding that he was taking a huge risk, Chapman explained that, with no confirmed TV contract in hand at the time, he desperately needed an infusion of cash.


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[Assistant] In the footage, Chapman is at a particularly low point, revealing how he'd considered taking his own life, admitting that Beth's passing, quote,


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[Assistant] Why would you do that? Or would she go, wow, you're here. I'll be like, of course I'm here. You left me. I'm here. So am I obligated to do that?


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[Assistant] Speaking with The New York Times, Chapman's manager, Amy Weiss, revealed that he's, quote, very lonely. She added, Indeed, Chapman, who's unfortunately also been forced to dispute rumors of his own demise during this time, opened up about his devastating thoughts on the Dr. Oz show.


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[Assistant] Crediting family friend Moon Angel for helping him. As Dr. Oz put it, choose life.


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[Assistant] If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.


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[Assistant] Fluttering our papers as spring winds blow, when through the open barriers, how gratefully we go.


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[Assistant] How could they sustain life itself under those circumstances?


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[Assistant] No. No, there is Vahini. A woman.


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[Assistant] Come, there's enough of you. You get along to bed. You've given trouble enough for one night I hope.


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[Assistant] Then let him come. At any particular time, Miss Havisham. There, there. I know nothing about times. Let him come soon, and come along with you.


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[Assistant] Chhor nahi sakta naa. Ab toh maza aane laga hai kehl mein.


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[Assistant] What are you saying?


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[Assistant] Oh, meh bala kyun lukaane laga aapke sab gtaab wali copy?


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[Assistant] Hassan bahu, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,


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[Assistant] Walaikum assalam. How's Rohan? Is everything okay?


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[Assistant] Oh yeah.


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[Assistant] Oye, wala hoja, wala. Kujh nahi hua, easy hoja.


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[Assistant] To watch Bhol Entertainment's dramas, subscribe to our channel and don't forget to click on the bell icon.


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[Assistant] When are you and Zoey gonna make that show y'all was telling me about on tour? That's one. And two, when am I gonna see y'all again? Those are my questions.


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[Assistant] Hey guys, welcome to our channel. For more updates on the bold and the beautiful, hit the subscribe button and to never miss a video, don't forget to hit the bell icon.


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[Assistant] Well, well, Bold and the Beautiful fans all know how important role a villain plays in a soap opera, right guys? So now that Bold and the Beautiful spoilers confirm that Thomas Forrester is about to come back as the actor Matthew Atkinson is still on contract with the CVSO,


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[Assistant] We all know how the ultimate bad boy has been MIA ever since his wedding disaster. But we also know it is only a matter of time he is back with yet another plan.


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[Assistant] However, there are two parts bolder than the beautiful can take for Thomas.


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[Assistant] There are a lot of chances that the bold and the beautiful writers will take the path where they try to redeem the bad boy and have him working to regain everyone's trust.


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[Assistant] It seems impossible as we all know how they have tried to tell us how Thomas was a changed man and was not obsessed with Hope Logan anymore.


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[Assistant] But Bold and Beautiful could not do the whole redemption storyline and he was back in his old ways.


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[Assistant] However, they can try that now, and this time in a proper way, right?


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[Assistant] We can see him wimpy and crying, begging for forgiveness from his father and granddad as well. And how can they say no? He is family after all and put him in therapy.


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[Assistant] In bold and beautiful recaps, we saw him getting counseling from his mother, Taylor Hayes. Turns out to be the big villain.


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[Assistant] And Thomas might just check the box if he's not playing nice.


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[Assistant] So there are chances that as Hope was the one who humiliated him and stole his son, he may just drop the act and turn vengeful.


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[Assistant] After our bold and beautiful recaps reminded us of how Hope stole Douglas Forrester and got Liam Spencer to act as his father.


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[Assistant] We need drama and Thomas could come back to take his son, right?


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[Assistant] Even Thomas's dad and grandfather were a big mess going after the same woman.


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[Assistant] So there are chances that he could go all out and take revenge. So which side of Thomas would you prefer? Do comment down below and don't forget to give us a big thumbs up if you like our video.


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[Assistant] Now, what is a contest giveaway? It is a simple yet very effective marketing initiative that you can use to grow your audience and to grow your sales as you're starting to build your Instagram food business.


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[Assistant] What a contest is is something that you're giving away in value. So something like a $50 gift card or let's say a month worth of cookies or a month worth of ice cream. These are all valuable items.


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[Assistant] Those are all actions that they can take in order for them to win and have a chance to win your product on your uh, prize. You can do this yourself or you can team up with an influencer so that way you can reach even wider audience. I recommend doing a contest giveaway.


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[Assistant] The repeat purchase from your existing followers already. And like I always say, it's all about the touch points. The more touch points that you have with your audience, the more likely they'll buy from you because you're just always top of mind. So for example, our bubble sore kit that we created as a case study, the more that we post, the more that people see it.


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[Assistant] The more that they would feel there's trust and whenever they're thinking about bubble tea, what did they think of first? They think of bubble sore kit. Whenever they're at home at 11pm, they don't want to pay for delivery fees. What do they think of? They are thinking about our bubble tea kit. So just imagine them scrolling and they see our Instagram page every time at night.


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[Assistant] That's how we're going to be able to get them to purchase again and again. It also allows you to be able to show your audience a appreciation for you to give back to them as well. So it's a really, really great way to reward them with engaging with your content.


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[Assistant] Now, there are 8 ways to launch a viral contest. First up, define your objective.


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[Assistant] Decide to do it either on your own or with an influencer, pick your grand prize, determine the contest duration.


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[Assistant] Determine how they can enter this whole contest. Create your contest caption so you can.


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[Assistant] This will allow you to cater how people are entering


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[Assistant] At the end of the day, if you have something that is very, very difficult for people to do in order for them to win, such as buying your item, that is a very high friction, uh, action that your audience has to take because it requires them to actually purchase something, right, for their chance to win.


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[Assistant] The likelihood for them to take that action is a lot less than if you were to just tell them, hey, just like this picture for your chance to win.


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[Assistant] A lot more people will perform this action. So you need to understand the pros and cons of your objective because the more friction it is,


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[Assistant] The easier it is, the easier it is for you to be able to sell to them in the future. So I would just recommend you to determine your objective as to get followers and also tag your friends, right? Like and tag your friends.


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[Assistant] Now that you have decided that, hey, all I want is more followers, decide whether you want to do this by yourself or with an influencer.


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[Assistant] If you have less than a hundred, uh, followers, I would highly recommend you to not do it yourself because you just don't have enough people to promote to and not enough people to take action with, so then that way it's just not worth it. Now, partnering up with an influencer, you can utilize their followers, which is a great way for you to grow.


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[Assistant] Uh, it also creates a win-win situation for you and your influencers because they love participating in giveaways. It's like, who doesn't want to?


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[Assistant] Now that you have decided on that,


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[Assistant] Pick your grand prize. Pick something that is valuable for your target audience. It should align with their interests of your audience. Something that is valuable and something that is relevant.


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[Assistant] So what do your followers win? It could be a $50 gift card. It could be a free product. It could be a month of free ice cream. That's these are all things that we have done in the past and have seen tremendous success. Ultimately, if your price is not good enough and if it's not valuable enough in your consumer's eyes,


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[Assistant] Not a lot. They won't take action. It's simple as that. You want to be able to host a contest. For example, if it's only for a $10 gift card.


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[Assistant] Well, it's likely people won't be that excited to take action, right? So ask yourself, are you going to be willing to take action for the value? Is it valuable?


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[Assistant] Next up, determine the contest duration. How long do they have to complete your requirements?


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[Assistant] For example, it could be five days, you post on February the 1st and the deadline for them to take the action is by February 6th. Typically I would recommend having at least a minimum of one week in duration. And why is that the case?


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[Assistant] Because if it is too short, uh, if it is too short, they don't have enough time and you don't have enough time to promote your idea and this contest to your audience. Maximum, I would have the duration at two weeks. Why is that the case? Because if it's too long of a duration, if it is over a month,


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[Assistant] There's no urgency. People will be like, yeah, I'll do it later. Don't worry about it. They don't have that excitement, which is the reason why typically speaking, I see the best performance of within either a week or two weeks for launching a contest.


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[Assistant] Now, determining the ways to enter. This really is dictated by the goal that you have set out in step number one. So go back to that goal, whether you want more followers or you want more sales, if you're looking for more followers, then you can have them like the post, tag a friend or follow your


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[Assistant] To win and increase your engagement as well. So for example, comment your favorite food or share this with, uh, on your Instagram story. These are all bonus entries that they can do, uh, bonus actions that they can do in order for them to even get more entries. Now, the reason why we want to have bonuses is because some people don't mind doing extra work.


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[Assistant] You can also utilize an outside software such as Kingsumo or viral loops or viper.io. Why do you want to utilize these outside


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[Assistant] But if they share the post, they get five entries if they give you their email.


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[Assistant] Then that's 10 entries that becomes very, very advanced, right? So software is like Kingsumo and viper.io is a great way for you to be able to build multiple channels all at once. But then again, I don't recommend this. If you're just starting off, this just complicates things. And even if you have.


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[Assistant] Their email address, what do you do with it? You don't really know what to do with it yet. Those are more advanced marketing strategy, which you can use later on. This is more for the advanced people. Okay. Next up is to create your contest captions.


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[Assistant] Grab your followers attention by telling them it's a giveaway right off the bat because your followers need to see that right away. Add emojis to make it more applicable and more personable. Your caption should include a mini introduction of your brand, the goal of your contest,


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[Assistant] If you want to go into the link below, download this contest giveaway template, use it like yours and tweak it. So then that way it fits into your objective, your brand and the people that you work with terms and conditions as well. So.


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[Assistant] Also something to note as well is for you to make sure to follow the legal guidelines from Instagram. Uh, a lot of times there are some, I, some things that you can't say. Um, but once again, just check out their terms and condition is very, very self explanatory. Copy and paste our caption and for you to fill in the blanks, go into the link below and download it.


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[Assistant] Now it is time to launch and promote your contest. Once you complete it, steps one to six, you can schedule your posts and during this whole period, make sure to constantly promote it. This is something that I see that a lot of people


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[Assistant] That they created a contest and they expect everyone to be jumping all over it. That's not how it works. People don't see it sometimes, right? So I'm not sure if you know, but Instagram only shows post.


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[Assistant] To giving away a product so there is already a sunk cost, but if you don't promote it and not enough people, uh, enter, then you don't have the results that you're looking for. So make sure you start promoting it ASAP.


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[Assistant] Always include a call to action in any of the posts that you do. A lot of people, once again, when they tell people about contests, they don't tell them that, hey, enter through this channel.


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[Assistant] And that is a really big, big mistake because when you don't have to call to action, that really decreases the likelihood of your audience taking action. Have you seen your contest posts yet? Check it out. That's just an example for you. Make sure you share your contest posts on your Facebook page as well.


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[Assistant] Don't be afraid to promote your giveaway because people won't see it spam. It's just reminders for them. Royal thumb is that minimum. I challenge you to promote your contest at least three times.


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[Assistant] And lastly, announce the winner. This is really, really crucial. This is the moment that everyone's waiting for, but it is super important for you to be transparent because some people might be like, Hey, you know what? Who knows?


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[Assistant] Who I give and announce a winner to. People know. So don't fall into that slippery slope of, Hey, you know what? Maybe I can just give it, gift it to my friend or Hey, you know what? I might just, you know, not give it away. Doesn't work like that. You always have to make sure you give it to someone and be transparent about this whole thing. Okay. So how do you pick a minute winner? You can manually put the entries in an Excel and use a free number generator, or you can have


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[Assistant] Instagram tools like Instagram comment picker or instant boom, which is also a great tool for you to be able to select the winners and you can actually, as you can see here, that's a link for.


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[Assistant] Using this platform called Instagram Comment Picker. So how do you use it? Connect to your Facebook. Select to the Facebook group that is connected to your Instagram account. Select your giveaway post under Instagram medias. Select the giveaway option that applies to you.


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[Assistant] Get comments, scroll down, select a winner. So once again, just click into the link and learn how to use it. They already have tutorials. It's a very, very simple way for you to pick a winner. You don't want to be spending hours sitting trying to log everyone's comments. It just doesn't work like that. Definitely use a comment picker tool.


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[Assistant] Now it is your turn, go out there, create your first contest, use our template that we supply to you in the links below, and good luck.


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[Assistant] What's up, it's Billie Eilish and this is my Coachella Survival Guide. Uh, number one.


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[Assistant] I've never been to Coachella. I don't have any idea at all.


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[Assistant] I have a lot of friends performing, so I'm just kinda hyped to just see my friends there. Yes, to see them performing, but I'm just hyped to see, like, my friends. I've never, it's cool because I've never been to Coachella.


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[Assistant] I need some takis, achitos. I might just somehow find a way to bring Taco Bell, like, the place. Like I'm gonna get like a truck and they're gonna, like, Taco Bell on the go.


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[Assistant] What song would I listen to to get me pumped? Probably my own. Probably Buried Friend or the rest of the album.


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[Assistant] Or Balenciaga by Lil Keed and 21 Savage. It's Max.


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[Assistant] So you're not wrong by that. That's my- no, it is my rap name, but I mean like, I think it's weird when niggas be calling people by their rap name in person. I don't know, I think that's kinda weird.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but I don't know, I, I'm kinda like one of those guys where it's like, you know how people are like, oh, like my rap, like some people like their rap persona is different than them. It's not so much of a persona thing. I'm just not really used to people calling me by my last name yet.


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[Assistant] Bro, it just reminds me of football, it reminds me of football, and I didn't play, I played football for like two years. What, being a rapper makes you feel like you're playing football? No, being called by my last name. Like, just like racist football coaches, that's just weird.


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[Assistant] Yeah, no, they're real. I mean, we're all, we all, that's like kind of like our thing is that we're just like us. You're every man. Yeah, yeah.


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[Assistant] Yo, fun fact, we don't act, we just don't, we don't do like anything, you can go down a checklist on all lyrics and it's like,


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[Assistant] That's one thing that we kinda like put our hand down and stand on is like the no lie shit. Really? Okay. That's like really wack. Like we don't lie about like nothing. Like I'll talk about shit that people don't normally talk about and people kinda like appreciate that cause it's like no one's really talking about kinda like some basic like blue collar shit. You know what I mean? Everyone's kinda talking about the same shit.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you also don't want to shame, you know what I mean? Cause like, in reality, like you don't want to like, it's not, that's not our job, you know what I mean? It's a shame nobody, and it's also like, basically it's just like, you know, rap is supposed to be like a reflection of someone's reality and like,


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[Assistant] That's not a background I came from, so I feel like I ca- I gotta be honest, like you know what I mean? Especially like not com- like coming from somewhat of the suburbs, whatever, something like that. It's just like...


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[Assistant] I'm not, I'm not really trying to get caught up in the whole like, oh, you're fake type shit, you know what I mean? Plus it's like, why not? Like I feel like that's one of the things that people like about us the most is like we're talking about shit that people don't really talk about, so.


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[Assistant] And it's easy, it's, it's not exhausting, like, you don't have to ask your friend, like, like, I, I know niggas that will show their friends a song, they'll show me a song and I'll be listening and be like, dang, you don't have that, you don't own that, like, this is kinda weird. Yeah. Or showing your mom the song and you're just lying, or like,


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[Assistant] I've gotten ripped on some fake, on some fake shit and I'll like, I won't even like try to, I couldn't even flip it to somebody, like I couldn't even hold something like that.


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[Assistant] The sneaker community, it's interesting, I mean it's like not really a thing anymore, you know what I mean?


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[Assistant] Like, no one's gonna press me about what I bang or, you know what I mean?


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[Assistant] And then there was De La Soul who everyone thought were hippies and they were like out fighting everybody. And that's like a thing. Yea, I'm not clued in enough. Like De La used to always talk, they used to talk about like when they released the first record and everyone, like De La was looked at as like hippies or like super peaceful, super, not so much anti-violence or whatever, but


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[Assistant] They, uhm, they talked about it all on the next record because they were known for like always getting in fights at clubs because everyone thought that they were soft, like just because they weren't talking about that but like, so that's just another one where it's like they were chilling but people were still trying to press them because they were almost, they were a little


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[Assistant] I don't know, that's literally it. And people really, and like, I mean, obviously, cause hip hop is like honesty, and that's why everyone loves honesty, and like, everyone loves hip hop. But like, that's, that's why people look up to hip hop. Like, and that's why all the little white kids look up to hip hop. Because like, that wasn't going down, like that wasn't going down anywhere else. Where it was like,


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[Assistant] Uh, I mean, there's a little bit of facade shit, but I was actually talking to somebody about it and we were talking about how like, you know, like credibility and like actually being street cred, like credible and all this stuff, how it's like, it's so much


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[Assistant] Fantano had a really good write up about that shit and that was really crazy where he was just like, yo, like,


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[Assistant] Like, this is the reason why you guys are listening to this guy and then now you want to turn your back on him once. You know what I mean?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I think that if it's something like literally talking about drugging a girl and raping her and just she didn't even know it, that was wild. That was wild. And I do think, I do think you're right that I don't think the issue so much is that it has to, is that it's coming from the outside. I think the issue is that it, that for some reason it has to come from the outside.


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[Assistant] And people, like we're at a really weird stage right now where like people feel like certain people are like immune to criticism, like certain artists are immune to criticism. If you say anything that you're trying to beef, and it's like that's weird, like I remember when


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[Assistant] All rappers were beefin', niggas were beefin' about everything. Like now, you can't say nothing without it being a full-fledged beef. Like it's like, this is hip-hop, this is competition.


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[Assistant] You know, it's like nothing, but it's there. It's crazy, like it's hip hop that we're talking about and people are really like that. Like, and like I said, like we're not even about like the whole, like we're not one to be like all banging and all that shit, but it's like, I'm not, if someone asks me if someone's wack, I'm most likely gonna either


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[Assistant] Be really quiet or be like, yeah bro, don't fuck with him. Like you know what I mean? Because it is hip hop, it is a competition, like, it's funny because everyone's like pointing fingers about how everyone's all like, how everyone on Twitter is all hypersensitive and shit like this, but a lot of these rappers are super hypersensitive right now.


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[Assistant] And like, they feel like everyone's pointing a finger at them or everyone's all like, it's like, yo, like,


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[Assistant] I don't know, it's, it's at an interesting point right now, and I just feel like people sometimes forget that this is hip hop, like this is not, like, this isn't pop, like this is rap, like, you know what I mean? Yeah.


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[Assistant] Uhm, it was basically like, I was rapping, I had started rapping in high school because one of my friends was rapping and he started popping in high school and I was like, damn, this is cool. He was like, you should start rapping. I was like, bet. I had known him for a little bit because he was working for my mom. He had always been rapping. He's older than us. Me and him are like a year apart. He's like 7 years old. How old are you? I'm 22.


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[Assistant] I'm 28. So he's, he's old compared to us, you know what I mean? And he's not old, but he's old compared to us. So I was always looking up to him. He was, you know, like sending CDs to my mom telling me, listen to this, listen to that. I was like, man, this is wack, this is, or I love this, lose the CD. So I was always looking up to him, but he was always rapping.


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[Assistant] He put me on to rap and he put me on to sneakers. Like, it was just like I moved to Phoenix and I didn't know nobody and it's a lot of white folks in the area that I live in. So it's like, you know what I mean? Like, I didn't know who I was even gonna befriend. And there's this dude who was like, you know what I mean, Obama just got elected, he had his big ass Obama shirt. He had his big ass Obama shirt. It was crazy.


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[Assistant] His best friend and my good friend Jordan Howard, and uh, basically he was like, hey bro, I know you rap, and my best friend makes beats, and I was like, oh bet. So eventually it was like, I did a mixtape, he produced a mixtape, and his like, he featured on one of the songs, and that was like the first time we worked together.


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[Assistant] Working on music and then it wasn't that good and then we finally started like releasing music and kind of getting a little bit of buzz, this that and there.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I couldn't imagine being no solo rapper right now. Like, that shit's crazy and like, there's just something about having a group and like, there's a reason why like, hip hop, when hip hop started, it was groups.


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[Assistant] When this, when it passes through, when everything gets checked, it's gotta get checked by three people. Like there's a lot of rappers and everybody has a team obviously, like you know, we got our team, everybody has a team.


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[Assistant] At the end of the day, like, people got Yes Men because what happens is, is like, they'll be like, you know what, fuck it, it's your album. Like, you know what I mean? They'll push hard, but at the end of the day, they'll be like, fuck it, it's your album. They don't have to care that much. It's our album. You know what I mean? So I think on a creative level, that's the best thing.


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[Assistant] Even mentally, I couldn't imagine being on stage by myself, you know what I mean? There's just something about a group mentality, and I think that there's something good about it, and there's a reason why, you know, a lot of these great, like, rap records come from that now and in the past, but, I mean, I don't know.


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[Assistant] There's just something important about like it being multiple people and not just one guy looking down on everybody. I think it's like a weird, it might just be a psychological thing, but.


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[Assistant] I don't know, like, I just think that there's something important about it being multiple people and it not just being like one guy that everyone's looking up at and it kinda shows that it's like a group thing. I don't know if it's that serious. I think creatively it just helps for us. It looks cool, it sounds great, it works. It works great.


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[Assistant] I don't gotta write three verses a song. That can be talking, that's a good point. That can be very taxing. I only wanna write, I even have a hard time writing verses now. I only wanna write hooks, like you know what I mean? And then I'll be like alright I gotta write this, like we'll have songs that'll just be like crazy beat, hook, and it's like that for three months.


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[Assistant] And we're chillin'. Like, you know what I mean? It like, it, that's, but, I couldn't, like, there's niggas that really, they do everything, and I just,


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[Assistant] I mean, obviously, if I had to do it, I'd be like, alright, bet I gotta do this, but it's so easy, like, knowing that I only gotta put, like, one amazing, I can put all, like, what I wanna put in one verse, like, I don't gotta be like, ooh, but I need to have a good amount of bars, like, good bars in the second verse and the third verse, like, you know what I mean? I think, I just think it's easy, I just think it's easier on a creative level.


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[Assistant] Very well. It's just like in real life we're way different like, but at the same time we have these similarities but it's like, we're two totally different people. He's always drinking like, I don't drink. Not all ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, yeah, like, it's just like, we're, we balance those.


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[Assistant] Okay, if I pretend, it wouldn't be like I'm actually taking a blunt and faking it. We do a lot of imaginary blunts and we will pass them around at parties and shit. Oh, okay, yeaah, I have seen this.


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[Assistant] It doesn't come cause we're like street. I think it comes from like Adam and Zach and uhm, like these street wear brands. I think that's where it comes from. Uhm, because like Foul Play, that's Phoenix. Like Foul Play and IR, we're like, we work together. Uhm, here's Jake.


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[Assistant] I think it just comes from like Zach and Adam fucking with us. Zach from MTV. It's just like, I think that's what it comes from. I don't like, I don't think those guys really pay attention to Fantano. I think it's good that we have like these two different aspects. Now I just want like hip hop, like I just want like rap niggas to fuck with us.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well it's like, technically Phoenix is probably the only place that we can sell out like a 700 cap venue without like, without opening the doors, but like if you look at like statistics like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Phoenix, like, is not even top 15 of where people listen to us. It's like 17. It's like 17. Like, you know, everyone listens to us in LA, everyone listens to us in New York, London. It's like, but it's all, it's like, but Phoenix, obviously because we have this, like, local type buzz that, like, people are just gonna come out and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And sell to us, but it's really, a lot of it is that Fantano shit, and a lot of it is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like, obviously, Fantano has a die-hard fan base, but there's also people that like, won't fuck with you just because, like, you're, you feel like a Fantano act. Like, we're not a Fantano act, even though like, yea, Fantano has been a big push for us, and he's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our biggest like public, he was the first person to ever give us like a chance, like a chance. That sounds corny, but that's like literally what it is. Like he were, I mean he was even saying that like when Pigeons and Planes was like tweeting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's like an, it's like an innovation. I think it's like what we bring to the table is different than what's going on, but it feels like very, I mean, I do think that we're really good rappers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the production is like what sets everyone way apart, you know what I mean? It's like Parker's productions putting everyone's like this is like no one's making this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's like, that doesn't matter if you're doing some, like you're doing some lyrical shit over some crazy production on some like Danny Brown shit or you're doing some young thug shit where you're breaking all rules.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's not gonna work. And it works, it does work for a little bit. And people will do really well for like four months because what happens is people are too lazy to like wanna find something new and they're just like, oh this guy sounds like someone that I kinda like, bet I can listen to that. But that doesn't last forever. Sounds good.