Far Too Long Since My Last Rant

Today, I want to talk about horrible Floridian drivers. Most motorists in Florida are despicable people. California has a reputation for bad drivers, but my experience is that it's largely undeserved. Sure, there are jerks that don't know how to drive, but most are fine in California (excluding Los Angeles, of course). Florida is the opposite of that. Finding someone who knows how to drive in Florida is about as rare as finding yourself needing the product that a telemarketer is pushing on you.

Tallahassee is particularly horrible, because the traffic lights in this town are basically Satan's feces smeared all over his domain (which is, of course, Tallahassee). The traffic lights are based on timers, not sensors, and whoever the city planner was that decided on the timing is a moron. Mordecai Brown could have counted on the fingers of his right hand the number of traffic lights that are reasonable in this city. I can't tell you the amount of times I've stopped at a red light and had literally zero cars go by the opposite direction. Infuriating. This leads to a lot of people running red lights. In response, the benevolent City of Tallahassee has adjusted the timers to be more realistic and added sensors for particularly troublesome lights in town. OH WAIT. Nope, instead they instituted traffic cameras and are now pulling in $6,000 a day while decreasing yellow light time to perpetuate their scam. And yet state workers are facing pay cuts, increased costs for benefits, and layoffs. Oh, also: there has been no impact on safety from these cameras. It's just a revenue-generating scheme!

But hey, I'm way off topic. I'm trying to talk about bad drivers, not the inherently repugnant legal system we have here in town (probably not limited to just Tallahassee, but most of the country, really). I'm just going to point out my three favorite idiot moves of which Florida drivers are regularly guilty:

1. On the freeway, I generally drive about 5 MPH over the speed limit. Many sections of the interstates here in Florida are two-lane, and there's no way I'm getting behind the 18-wheelers on the right side. I'm perfectly happy to get over for cars moving faster than I am and I usually do so. HOWEVAH, at night these faster moving cars like to flash their brights to let you know they're coming. This makes me very angry. The moment those brights flash, I become a total dick and obstinately refuse to move over. If they persist in blinding me, I make sure to get next to a car in the right lane to block them off. Yes, I realize this contributes to the problem of bad drivers in Florida, but it's freaking insane to flash your brights at someone moving at 75 mph. I'd be interested in finding out just how many accidents this causes.

2. This is surely a problem everywhere (I certainly experienced it in California), but the ridiculously loud stereos that seem designed to project sound out of the car rather than into it seem to be more prevalent here in Tallahassee. I don't know what these people are trying to prove, other than the fact that they are filthy cockmongers. It's worst when they drive by my apartment at 3:00 AM, engines revving and music blaring. They really should get pulled over for this ridiculous behavior.

3. This one pisses me off more than anything else on the Tallahassee roads. You know when you're at an intersection waiting to turn left and there's no dedicated left turn signal? Tallahassee drivers: You are supposed to pull out in the intersection while you wait to turn, preferably enough to allow the car behind you to pass over the stop line. I can't tell you how many times I've had to wait through two or more red lights waiting to turn left, even when I'm second or third in line. These are the kinds of things that drive someone to insanity. I don't have twenty minutes to drive a mile.

Anyway, now it's time for me to stop ranting and have some fun. (Haha, yeah right. Everyone knows I just had a lot of fun with that rant. I just love hating so much!)

Gratuitous music quote of the day:
(Don't you just LOVE those people who put "meaningful" music quotes on their Twitter feed or Facebook status? I want in on this bandwagon! But I'll tell you what's better than something "meaningful"--something completely random, nonsensical, or taken entirely out of context.)

"But I'd rather sit back, just smoke cigarettes, be the one with the loudest mouth, be the most closed minded as I could get." Less Than Jake, "Sugar in Your Gas Tank"

Incidentally, I saw Less Than Jake play a couple weeks ago. It was surprisingly spectacular, and they played a bunch of songs from Losing Streak, which is very important. The show would have sucked with no songs from their best album.

Beard of the day:

Christian Bale, as everyone knows, is badass. Then he grew this awesome beard and he became a BAMF. Like me, Batman lacks connectors, but this is totally okay. I like the way he trims it up on the side but grows it thick under his chin. It's certainly not a chin strap (those are lame), but just a little heavier underneath while keeping it neat around the edges. The color is interesting, too. It doesn't quite match his hair, but this is not a problem. I can't say that he's quite taken over for Johnny Depp as my man crush, but with this beard, he's totally on the way. We'll see how Dark Knight Rises is.

Something I hate that most people like:

I can't really think of anything profound. I guess I'm just filled with love today! How about...bananas? Most people like bananas, right? I think they're gross. Ewww.

Delicious food of the moment:

Yogurt Mountain frozen yogurt. This place just opened and...holy crap. I've been frequenting YM way too often, but it's just so good. I love self-serve yogurt places, but they are also inherently corrupt. Did you ever notice that they only provide HUGE cups in which to have your yogurt? Evil. I can't just put a little bit in the bottom! I've got to fill it a decent amount. If they provided a cup half the size, I'd fill it to overflowing, feel like I'm getting more, but would be actually getting less. Psychology is some weird stuff. You can consciously know something and still be unable to overcome the tendency of which you are perfectly aware is wrong and bad. Like my tendency to fill these huge cups with too much yogurt. A few weeks ago, there was a German chocolate flavor, and it was inhumanely good. Then they got rid of it after a week. And yet banana pudding (DISGUSTING) has stuck around since they opened. Management fail. However, I went a couple nights ago and they had a new Swiss chocolate flavor. I mixed it with some peanut butter yogurt and it was basically the best thing I've ever tasted. Again: holy crap.


First song to come up after pressing "shuffle" on my iPod:

"Look Down" from the Les Misérables soundtrack.

Some people dislike Les Misérables. Those people suck. It features pretty much the greatest requisite over-acting ever and it's just so sexy. I'm not sure if I like Jean Valjean or Javert more, I just know that they are both badass. Marius is pretty much "meh." Everyone likes Eponine, and I do too, but I don't think Cosette gets a fair shake. It's probably because actresses tend to sing her parts like an over-the-top soprano (oops, sorry for the redundancy there). This is a problem. Sing like you're in musical theater, not an opera!

Current album, book, video game, and television show:

Album: Keasbey Nights by Catch 22

My buddy gave me a copy of this album and I've been enjoying it for a week or so. Between discovering Streetlight Manifesto (which was formed from the remnants of this band) a few months ago and seeing Less Than Jake, I've been really into ska lately.

Book: Banker by Dick Francis; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Since it's been so long since I posted, I'm going to go ahead and claim two. I actually started and finished Banker yesterday. It's my second Dick Francis book and I'll definitely read more. He fits into the genre of literature that isn't necessarily profound, but is hard to put down. Similar to Dan Brown books, except Dan Brown is a horrible writer who tells a good story. Dick Francis at least has a handle on the language.

I'm going to finish Crime and Punishment, but I must admit I'm finding it tough. Dostoevsky has a tendency to write paragraphs that are three or four pages long. It makes it hard to follow the action. I'm assuming he was just trying to save paper. In any case, The Brothers Karamazov was a significantly better piece of literature.

Funny story about the Dostoevsky. My wife gave me a bunch of books from her mom's house at Christmas and somehow I got it in my head that it was Tolstoy's War and Peace. I was quite shocked to learn that I was wrong. You know what they say about Russians--they all look the same! (And, you know, write the same.)

Video game: Dragon Age 2

I ordered this the other night and it hasn't arrived yet, so I don't have anything to say. But I'm excited. Damn excited. If I don't take five weeks to post again, it's quite possible this will remain my current video game next post. And then I'll have comments, too!

TV show: Parks and Recreation

This is Parks and Rec's second time in this position. The first time it was still new to me, but now I'm at the point where I think it's the best show on TV. Thursday has three great shows (The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation) and I have really come to look forward to P&R more than any of them. It's also better than Glee, The Simpsons, and maybe even How I Met Your Mother. All the characters are just so likable. In addition, there's Ron Swanson, who is my hero.

Obligatory photo of gorgeous starlet:




















Rashida Jones is also highly responsible for Parks and Rec's ascension to the top of my list. Just look at those bangs. Adorable.

Killing Time in the Courthouse

This is going to be a long post, because I have jury duty today and I need something to do. I hope you’re ready and resilient.

Gratuitous music quote of the day:
(Don't you just LOVE those people who put "meaningful" music quotes on their Twitter feed or Facebook status? I want in on this bandwagon! But I'll tell you what's better than something "meaningful"--something completely random, nonsensical, or taken entirely out of context.)

“Johnny Twobags doesn’t have the blues and it makes him sad, brings him down…but not down enough to have the blues.” The Vandals, “Johnny Twobags”

Beard of the day:

See below.

Something I hate that most people like:

Applause. Man, it’s really annoying when people applaud for something that doesn’t deserve it. My most recent experience happened just a few minutes ago. I’m currently sitting in the Leon County Courthouse, doing my civic duty as a potential juror in what I hope is an awesome felony trial. The county judge came in to explain the process to us and mentioned that today is her granddaughter’s third birthday. That’s cool, it really is. I hope she gets to spend some time with the little girl tonight. But when she told us, a few people decided this was worthy of applause and clapped for her. Fact: needless or over-indulgent applause will take up about nine months of an average person’s life. That’s enough time to grow a baby. (For the record, I made that statistic up. But I’m 99% sure it’s accurate.)

This happens all too often. It’s my birthday! Applause. I got out of a speeding ticket! Applause. The library waived my late fees! Applause. Just…stop. It’s truly not appropriate behavior. A public speaker can solicit applause without even trying and it’s annoying. People need to save their claps for when they’re really needed. I declare shenanigans.

As a musician, I have a special hatred for inappropriate applause. Nothing is more annoying than going to a concert and having some wiseass (or dumbass) decide that it’s appropriate to clap in between movements. This is another situation where it becomes clear that people are all too willing to jump on the applause bandwagon. If one guy claps between movements, even people who know it’s not appropriate will join him. I’m not going to lie, I’ve joined in once or twice myself. It's tough, because if people are going to clap, you don't want the performer to think that only half the audience appreciated the piece. But mostly, I fume. I fume because they’re wasting my time and, consequently, wasting my life.

Also annoying is the standing ovation. Standing ovations are appropriate when something is really, really good. But it’s been ages since I’ve been to a play, concert, or any other event with a curtain call that hasn’t invoked a standing ovation from the majority of the audience. I’ve seen some great shows in my time and I’m the first to stand when it’s deserved. But, from my perspective, people are getting frivolous with their bipedal accolades. It’s much harder to resist the swell of a standing ovation than an inappropriate applause moment. Many times I’ve thought something was worthy of vigorous and hearty, but seated, applause. However, when everyone in my section stands, it makes me look like a negative jerk if I don’t also rise from my seat. It’s a very tricky social situation, especially if you’re among friends. There’s nothing I love more than when three or four guys stand (and it’s almost always guys) and no one else follows suit. You only see this on rare occasions, but it does happen. And when it does, it’s beautiful.

Delicious food of the moment:

Pizza. I really prefer a New York style pizza, but when it comes down to it, I’ve never found a pizza that I truly hated. The closest is Domino's, but even that will do in a pinch. I have a lot to say about pizza, so if you don’t want to read the adoring rants of a foodaholic, it is best to scroll down. Way down, because this is going to be a veritable dissertation.

I went to college in a town that had a multitude of pizza options. There were four independent shops there. I’m going to take a moment to reminisce about all of them.

The worst of the four was Arcata Pizza and Deli. They had some pretty good stuff at APD, but it was generally overpriced and not as delicious as the other options. I may have only had their pizza once or twice, to be honest. Usually, if I went to APD, it would be for the cheese fries, not the $5 slices of pizza.

Live From New York blew APD out of the water. Huge slices for under $2 and no need for toppings due to the amazing cheese and sauce combination. Due to the size of the slices and the thinness of the crust, the best way to eat a slice from LFNY was to fold it in half and eat it like a pizza taco. Delicious.

Then you had Smug’s. Smug’s was amazing. They had no tables, so you either picked up your pie or grabbed a couple slices to eat on the street. You got two slices for $3 or $4, but they were not nearly as big as the other three places in town. Still, they couldn’t have tasted any better. What I really liked about Smug’s is that they sauced their pizzas all the way to the edge before folding the crust over. The delicious result was that the crust was filled with sauce. Occasionally, if you were lucky, they had slices sauced not with marinara, but with pesto. Heaven.

Finally, you had Big Pete’s. This shop opened after I had been in Arcata for a year or two, but it grew closest to my heart. (Long parenthetical aside: Smug’s was arguably better pizza, but Pete’s was in a better location, had places to sit, and was just a generally more fun, open atmosphere. Most important were the televisions. I went to Pete’s several times a week to have a slice while watching baseball. Good times.) Pete’s featured New York style pizza with an array of toppings and sauces. My favorite was a slice with marinara, fried eggplant, and huge smears of ricotta cheese. I’m not even a fan of eggplant, but this pizza was amazing. I also recall a pizza sauced with ranch that had chicken and other goodies topping it. There were barbeque pizzas, buffalo pizzas…so many good kinds of pizza. Oh, Pete’s how I adore you. How I miss you.

In my current town of Tallahassee, good pizza isn’t nearly as prevalent. The two best places in town are Brooklyn Pizza and Momo’s. Brooklyn has some great prices for whole pies, which makes it my usual preference. Momo’s features “slices as big as your head,” and their catchphrase is not an exaggeration. I like the atmosphere at Momo’s, but the pizza is more expensive and the sauce is thin and somewhat tasteless. I generally prefer their cheese bread.

Let’s move on to corporate pizza (I told you this was going to be long, didn’t I?). I’ve already mentioned that Domino’s is the absolute dregs, but what about other places?

Pizza Hut is serviceable because of the stuffed crust. Period. I have some dear friends that invited me over to share some Pizza Hut slices recently…and they didn’t get stuffed crust. I mean, it’s only $2 extra and it enhances the experience exponentially. If it’s a matter of cost, I will pay for the stuffed crust. If it’s a matter of taste, I may have to reevaluate my friendship with this particular couple (just kidding, guys!). Pizza Hut also fails to come through on its variety of toppings. They have pepperoni and sausage, which takes care of my meat preferences, but there is literally not one vegetable on Pizza Hut’s menu that I enjoy on my pizza. I generally get only one topping anyway, but when they have a three-topping special or whatnot, I’m generally left confused and alone. And they don’t allow for extra cheese to count as one of the toppings. Tragic.

Papa John’s used to be my favorite corporate pizza. I think it was due to the buttery garlic sauce that probably packs calories more densely than cheesecake. However, Papa John’s and I have grown apart in recent years. My last several experiences there have been average at best and bland at worst. Whereas Pizza Hut serves thick, cheesy slices filled with moisture and a delectable soft texture, Papa John’s is dry and crispy. In general, soft and chewy always wins out over hard and crispy.

Hungry Howie’s and Little Caesars (yes, I checked. They don't use the apostrophe like everyone else!) are both niche places that fill the need of cheap pizza fast. It’s a tough call to declare a superior of the two. Hungry Howie’s features flavored crusts and a $5.75 pizza ready in about ten minutes. Little Caesars, on the other hand, charges only $5 and the pizza is ready the moment you walk in. The 75 cents is basically inconsequential, but the convenience of Little Caesars goes a long way. Hungry Howie’s probably tastes a little better, but Little Caesars has a delicious buffalo ranch, which is a significant point in its favor. I declare this one a draw.

This brings up another important point. Pizza is perfect on its own, but in the last five years I have discovered the wonders of ranch or bleu cheese dressing as an enhancement to the experience (also buffalo sauce!). On the surface, this is innocuous, but at a deeper level, I’m concerned. A creamy salad dressing adds way more calories than an already calorie-loaded pizza provides and may just be distracting from the flavor of the combination of ingredients that make up one of man’s finest accomplishments. On the other hand, it tastes good.

Just a little more hunger-inducing prose, I promise. My current favorite place is Flippers Pizzeria in Orlando. They have several locations in the area and I’m down there for work and recreation often enough that I’ve had their pizza at least six times in the last six months. It’s not New York style, but the crust is the perfect texture and thickness to not overwhelm the rest of the formula. The sauce is flavorful and delicious, the cheese is applied in just the perfect quantity, and the toppings. Oh, the toppings. My wife and I have found that we prefer the shredded sirloin steak and chopped hot Italian sausage, but they have numerous other mouth-watering choices. Pesto, artichoke hearts, multiple kinds of sausage and meatballs…so many choices, so little opportunity. Finally, their bleu cheese dressing is the best I’ve ever had. I kid you not. Flippers Pizzeria, at least for now, wins the heavyweight championship belt of BEST PIZZA PLACE EVER.

First song to come up after pressing “shuffle” on my iPod:

Today, I’m going to cheat. I’m trying to give myself plenty to write while I have time to kill, and the first random song is one to which I’m not sure I have ever listened. So I’m going to remove superfluous junk from my iPod right now so that a song about which I actually have something to say will be selected. Aaaaand…done. This is the only time I’m going to cheat. Promise. (At least until another day where I have hours and hours to kill arrives. Then I’ll probably cheat again.) Let me just say, I’m not cheating to avoid embarrassment—I just don’t have anything to say about a lot of the stuff on my iPod.

“Polly” by Nirvana.

This is one of the first songs I learned on the guitar and perhaps the first that I was able to sing and play at the same time. Like all Nirvana songs, it’s incredibly easy, so it’s not surprising that this would be the case.

I missed Nirvana by about five years. At the height of Kurt Cobain’s fame, I was only eight or nine and hadn’t really been exposed to any pop music, much less Nirvana. I wrote here about my experience of hearing “Rape Me” for the first time. However, between 1999 and 2001, I made up for missing Nirvana’s heyday in kind. I got all of their albums and listened to them incessantly. I learned all of the songs on my guitar. I even read a biography of Kurt Cobain.

Nowadays, I barely listen to Nirvana, but I still keep them on my iPod. Hence, “Polly.”

Current album, book, video game, and TV show:

Album: The Decline by NOFX

I’ve really reinvigorated my love of punk rock lately. NOFX is one of my all-time favorite bands and I had about ten years of catch up to do. I was familiar with The Decline at the height of my punk obsession, but I’ve really grown to love it lately. From the opening lines, “Where are all the stupid people come? | And how’d they get to be so dumb?” to the final fadeout, this 18-minute song (the only song on the album) hits on just about everything wrong in this country. While I don’t agree with every stance NOFX takes, I am impressed by their dedication to their beliefs. These guys don’t half-ass anything and it shows. Hence, they’ve lasted for nearly 30 years and are still going strong.

Book: The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok

This is the third Potok book I’ve read in a row and fourth overall. I’m only about 60 pages in, but I’m not enjoying quite as much as The Chosen, The Promise, or My Name is Asher Lev. That being said, it took me a while to get into the story of Asher Lev, so we’ll see where this book takes me.

Video game: Lego Harry Potter

My wife doesn’t play a lot of video games with me, but she enjoyed (or at least claimed to enjoy) playing Lego Star Wars. Given that Harry Potter is better than Star Wars (BLASPHEMY), this seemed like a no-brainer. And it has certainly been fun so far.

(Hey, just a quick aside. The Star Wars movies are infinitely better than the Harry Potter movies. But the Harry Potter books absolutely dominate the Star Wars movies. Still, comparing books to movies is an unfair comparison, since movies are, as a rule, inferior to books. Just had to make that clear.)

TV show: Dexter

I’ve been hearing buzz about this show for a while, so I watched the first two seasons over the last couple weeks. BAD. ASS. This show is not for the faint of heart, but I hardly fit into that group. After all, I AM A PRODUCT OF THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND HAVE BEEN PROPERLY DESENSITIZED TO VIOLENCE AND DEBAUCHERY. Being that I’m from the computer era, I should also know better than to type a sentence in all caps. I apologize. No, hold your applause. Seriously.

Beard of the day/Obligatory photo of gorgeous starlet:

This may not be the best picture of Natalie Portman ever (far from it, really), but she's standing here with a Hasidic Jew and it is awesome. I really like Jews. I'm not Jewish myself, but there's something about their culture that really appeals to me. It could be the beards.

Something Good, Something Bad, Something Angry, Something Sad

Something good:
I played catch for the first time in ages today. I intend to do it more often. It was really, really fun until the sun came out, at which point it became hellish. And it's only March.

Something bad:
It's only March. And when the sun is out, it's hellish. Gosh, I hate Tallahassee.
Something angry:
Gas prices magically jumped from about $3.15 to $3.50. I know I'm a spoiled American and Europeans pay way more, but the fact is that I'm an American and I deserve to pay less money. I think it's in the constitution or whatever.

Something sad:
Gaby Sanchez will not be joining my fantasy team this year. Thus far in the draft, I haven't really missed out on anyone I was targeting whom I also thought I had a chance to get on my team. Sanchez was the first. Let us all hope he will be the last.

Gratuitous music quote of the day:
(Don't you just LOVE those people who put "meaningful" music quotes on their Twitter feed or Facebook status? I want in on this bandwagon! But I'll tell you what's better than something "meaningful"--something COMPLETELY EFFING RANDOM, nonsensical, or taken entirely out of context.)
"Your skin is something that I stir into my tea."
-Joanna Newsom, "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie"

Something I hate that most people like:Pink Floyd. I can't really enunciate why I dislike them so much, but I really do. I guess the fact that I've never tried acid has something to do with it. One time I was watching this animated version of Dark Side of the Moon with my way overboard hippie ex-girlfriend. Watching what I perceived as disturbing images while listening to music that was designed purely to be trippy was making me feel literally sick to my stomach. I asked her to turn it off. She was so freaking pissed.

First song to come up after pressing "shuffle" on my iPod:"Bob" from the NOFX/Rancid BYO Split Series.

I don't remember how I discovered this particular gem of brilliance, but can I just say that this is pretty much the greatest idea ever? Two great bands take six songs from the other group and cover them. HEAVEN. You don't have to actually like punk to realize that this is an epic idea. THINK ABOUT IT.

Current album, book, video game, and TV Show:Album: Energy by Operation Ivy
Book: My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Video Game: Mass Effect 2
TV Show: Parks and Recreation

Obligatory picture of gorgeous starlet:















Oh, Zooey. Your superiority knows no bounds.

Red Dead RedAWESOME

Red Dead Redemption almost became my favorite game. It was so close! The story is wonderful, the scenery is incredible, and the immersion is without question. The problem is the extra content that drags the experience out to tedious levels. I played it on a PS3, and I take large amounts of enjoyment getting platinum trophies on the games I play. So I went through the game doing every little thing possible in an attempt to get that platinum trophy. Here's the rub: by the time I reached the third section of the game, it seemed so absolutely repetitive that I couldn't wait to finish it. I shouldn't feel that way! I should have been dreading the moment those closing credits rolled. Still, don't get me wrong. It's wonderful. I don't think I've ever enjoyed just traveling around an open-world game like that.

The main complaint I've heard is that it's the same game that's been fed to us again and again over the last ten years through the Grand Theft Auto series, but it replaces mobsters, cartel-members, and street gangs with cowboys, Indians, and Mexicans. I can certainly sympathize with this complaint—particularly because I've grown to absolutely hate GTA games—but there's something just inherently more enjoyable about a western-themed sandbox game. I don't know why I feel differently about RDR, but the fact is that I despised GTA IV within the first 15 minutes, but my love for RDR quickly catapulted to ridiculous levels.

Even though I feel that there's way too much content in the single-player section of the game, I can't argue that it's pulled off brilliantly and is a masterpiece of video game storytelling. What's really soured me on the game is the multiplayer. The fact that the multiplayer trophies are required for platinum bums me out to no end. I'm grinding levels right now to get to level 50, and I find myself really, really eager to finish with this game and move onto something else. My completionist tendencies probably hurt me here, since I must finish what I start before taking on another huge challenge (God of War III is next on my queue, and long overdue). But I'm so close to this platinum that I don't want to stop playing. At the same time, I can't stop playing soon enough.

Rockstar used to be my favorite game developer, purely because GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas were some of my favorites back in the day. But their formula has gotten tired and repetitive, and I think it's time for an overhaul. I'm not as excited for the next GTA game as I might be.

I'm going to continue grinding up to level 50, and I might work on a few of the DLC trophies, but once I platinum the game, it is unlikely I'll pick it up again. Then again, the online poker and liar's dice might be enough to play it every once in a while, but that remains to be seen. Overall, I think this is a must-play, but if you intend to platinum it, be prepared for some frustration. As for whether I declare it one of my favorite games, I'll have to let it sit in my mind for a while. When I was about halfway through, I thought it would overtake Ocarina of Time, but now I'm not sure where in my top ten it will go. Time will tell.