April 23, 2013

Blur quotes - Funny Blur quotes

"I made a point of drinking two bottles of champagne a day for eighteen months. England only imports something like 100,000 bottles a year so I reckon I drank 1 percent of England's total champagne import."Alex.

"We rarely actually finished a gig, completely. There was always a point where everything... I either got trashed, I'd be sick, or somone'd get hit over the head, or the electricity would go. It was almost a sort of failure if we got to the end of a gig, really." - Damon on the early days.


"Pop stars shouldn't act, just like actors shouldn't sing." - Robert Carlyle, leading actor in Damon's film debut "Face".


"We were totally convinced of our genius, but are getting less and less so as the years go by." - Alex.

"We're bigger than the holes in Swiss cheese." - Graham.

"Alex is God with a fringe." - Adam Benzine, member of Blur fan club.

"Irony is just saying things that aren't true for comic effect. But people then assumed that everything we were saying A) wasn't true and B) we were just saying to be funny." - Dave.

"There's always been a bit of a hip-hop element to my trousers." - Damon.

"Graham Coxon is a total wanker [because he didn't kiss her on the cheek when they met]. He has a confused mind and he can stick it up his tiny arse"- Justine Frischmann, to which Graham responded: "Kissing people on the cheek is so last century."

"It was more Levis than the other chart stuff which was kind of cyber wear." - Graham on "Tender".

"["Tender" is] a tribute to how important something was in my life. It's a celebration of love found and lost but not forgotten." - Damon.

"I saw these four lunatics jumping all over the place, falling over, and thought: 'Don't know why, but this is good!'! - Andy Ross, Food records, on first seeing Seymour.

"The best thing about being in a band is that you can allow your insanities to develop. And get paid for it." - Alex.

On the time at Goldsmiths with Damien Hirst and Sam Taylor-Wood- "We spent two years staying up all night, doing performance art and talking about Willem de Kooning. We used to say in a snidey way "there's a lot of genius wandering round here", and in a way, it turned out there was." - Alex.

"...Iggy Pop fronting the Monkees..." - "What's on" magazine describing Blur in 1990.

"I'm very sexy in the morning." - Damon.

"When you're young you don't mind being pretentious, but it gets a little bit embarassing as you get older."Graham.

"I'm really enjoying my thirties. I spent my whole twenties going nuts, but being completely pissed isn't such a good look when you're 32 as when you're 22. Wait til you're my age and you'll be running round the park." - Alex.

"What do i think of the new Blur album? It's brilliantly patchy. I think 'Trimm trabb' is amazing. 'Coffee and tv' is my kind of song. And I think 'Caramel' is amazing. Even with my naive knowledge of drugs, Caramel must stand for drugs. It's a good career move - distancing themelves from the rat race. They seem a bit more mythical for doing it." - Nicky Wire, Manic Street Preachers.

"In our minds we were making reasonably left-field, arty pop music. And yet we were getting screamed at as if we were a bunch of tough guys singing ballads with a dance routine. Graham got upset. Alex liked it. I just thought it was really inappropriate." - Dave on the "Parklife" hysteria.

"We're contemptible show-offs. We change with the wind. We're good-looking and we say we are. We're clever and we say we are. We're not clever and we say we are." - Alex.

"Great company is the most precious thing there is." - Alex.

"Graham is a real fan. He hardly dared talk to me. But the French magazines sitll managed to make up some story about us. And Damon is so cute, he looks just like my son." Francoise Hardy.

"Be careful doing that floatie thing!" - Graham.

"...when Kurt Cobain died, one of the things that surprised me was how upset everyone was - whatever their background. It showed me how fragmented the world is all the rest of the time, and if there's a key to the Nineties I think it's that perpetual insecurity. Never have people thought so hard about their lives and come to such indecision, or felt further apart. We're powerless and confused - by politics and work and sex and even things like morality. It there's going to be an epitaph for the Nineties, it will be 'By the end, we all felt like victims'." - Damon.

"Working with Graham Coxon, it began to dawn that I had met the best guitarist I'd worked with since Johnny Marr. I rate him as the best guitarist around. He plays things Johnny wouldn't even think of." - Stephen Street, Blur's (ex-)producer.

"It's got more to do with working hard than being a genius, that's the thing that gets to me. I thought you just had to be a genius." - Alex.

"We couldn't really play that well when we were signed. We could hardly get through a full show without Damon being sick or things getting unplugged and ruined. God knows why we were signed on the strength of that." - Graham.

On Damon and Graham's daughters - "For every baby song, I'm gaving an aeroplane song. - Alex.

"In their bass player Alex they have a dickhead of such magnitude that even Gazza seems bearable." - some Scottish magazine in 1990 (see "3862 days").

"Women are f**king amazing creatures." - Damon.

"I think all music is good really." - Alex.

"Blur are really pretty good. But it ain't the future. Blur are merely the present of rock and roll." - Andrew Collins, NME reviews "Leisure".

"We just can't resist being silly." - Graham.

"I've always known I'm incredible special and if I didn't think we were the best band in the universe I wouldn't bother."Damon

"I don't mind Blur, they're a good pop group. I know they beat us to Best Indie Band in the Smash Hits poll, I'm glad they did. We're not a bloody indie band - we're a rock group. And anyway, we've only been at it a few months, whereas Blur have been going for four years, and they've only just got Indie band of the year this year. That's sad. They beat us to Best Album as well? Aw, we'll come back and get 'em next year." - Liam Gallagher to Smash Hits in 1994.

"What is 40 ft long, has no pubes, and screams dead loud? The front row of a Blur concert!" - Alex.

"When I'm 60, I want to be a cool old man." - Graham.

"Blur did great. I was looking at them thinking, 'Look how drunk they are!' Good luck, Blur, man. Excellent. Nice one."Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet on the Brit Awards 1994.

"The first time I stayed at Damon's, he took me for a drive and crashed, and then told me he didn't have a driving license - so I had to tell his mum I did it." - Alex.

"[on William Orbit] I didn't get told to f***ing grow up, which I have done in the past. So I liked him." - Graham.

"They're a great pop band. "Girls and boys" was a good pop song, you know? But they're not as good as us." - Liam Gallagher.

"Once you've mastered the basics of one instrument, you discover that they all speak the same language. It would be great to go on the road with them all, but it's not exactly rock. Plus, you can't smoke while you are playing them." - Alex.

"I don't think anyone who has ever counted drinking amongst their hobbies has never kissed a man." - Dave.

"Damon's such a pop tart!" - Justine Frischmann.

"Being in a band is rubbish." - Damon.

"The thing I really like about this band is that every time I walk out of my door I bump into Graham, no matter where I am! That always reassures me." - Alex.

"He's so attractive, oh really he is... Ahhhh... How nice-looking is he!" - Francoise Hardy on Damon.

"When our third album comes out our position as the quintessential English band of the 90's will be assured." - Damon in 1990 (and how right he was!)

"Being in a band is like being a matador. You go out there and if you pull it off the glory is quite spectacular. But at the same time noone's going to feel sorry for you if you get gorged in the stomach." - Damon.

" "I go to sleep" features a piano accompaniment by Damon. Isn't he good?"Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders.

"Mr [Bernard "Suede"] Butler was Blur's guitar roadie for two years... he spent hours crying on my doorstep for us to take him on tour." - Graham.

"We're just boozers, really."Damon.

"Blur are genetically incapable of being crap" MelodyMaker (?).

"Up until Parklife we were bunking the tube." - Alex on Blur's poorer days.

"I never got along well with the lads at school, I was always called gay." - Damon.

"I hate Blur and Stereolab and all those art school knobheads."Mani of the Stone Roses.

"Rick Astley was quite affable." - Alex.

"We've always seen ourselves as putting on white coats and going into the lab." - Damon.

"Their great strength is they are a band. They hang out together naturally and whatever they do together works." - Stephen Street, Blur's (ex-)producer.

"I don't mind kissing men at all." - Damon.


April 19, 2013

Alex James - The Big Feastival 2013 feature

It's nearly spring, which means that it's time to get buzzing about summer music festivals. Combine great music and delightful, good food, and you get Alex James and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's annual food-slash-music concert, The Big Feastival, which will be held for four days from 30th August to 2nd September 2013.

The venue is Alex's 200-acre farm in England. Special guests and musicians lined up for the big event include The Feeling, KT Tunstall, Basement Jaxx, Rizzle Kicks and Norman Jay. And who knows - perhaps members of Blur with children, namely Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, will turn up to the farm to enjoy the music, food and sunshine.

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Jamie Oliver and Alex James co-host The Big Feastival

The exclusive interview (read it all here) talks about Alex's farm in Cotswolds, his fascination with cheese, more cheese chat and even mentions a special type of "desert island cheese". Proceeds will be donated to the charity The Better Food Foundation, which aims to promote and educate children about the importance of fresh and healthy produce.

"I’m very excited to have such great foodies and musicians back on the farm. The whole weekend was so enjoyable last year and Jamie and I are working to make it even better for 2013," said James.

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Jamie Oliver also said: "Last year the atmosphere was incredible and it really was fun for all ages."

Food and Wine Magazine also interviewed Alex James at the Coachella festival from last week, and talked about his second life as a father, cheese-maker, foodie expert and most recently, a festival thrower. Stream Alex Jame's podcast for free on iTunes or listen to the episode below:



For more news on Alex James's Big Feastival, follow them on Twitter.

 To purchase tickets (£30.00- £130.00 for adults) for the Big Feastival, visit the official website by clicking here.


Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 
Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE
Blur Europe Tour News  HERE
Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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April 16, 2013

Blur at Coachella - Watch video, pictures, reviews

It was a very English Coachella - Blur performed in America's Coachella music festival on Friday 12th April to a massive group of festival-goers, spinning out hits such as 'Girls and Boys', 'Parklife' and 'Song 2'. They were part of a very British lineup, joining the likes of English bands such as "The Stone Roses".

Many fans who have waited years to see the band were pleased. Blur hit the stage at 10pm on Friday evening; Damon Albarn was in relatively good moods and made jokes at the audience just like he used to from earlier Blur tours.

The performance from Blur received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Northernmonkey, a fan from the official Blur forums reports: The crowd seemed a bit quiet, although the broadcast didn't show much of the crowd and locked firmly on the stage, the set was a lot shorter than expected, but this was obviously to do with the time slot given. The set list was good, although I think they should have dropped 'Parklife', way too rooted to the UK and not my favourite Blur song, Phil Daniels should have been left at home.

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Blur

"Everything else was good though and the boys sounded great and as a band looked the part, to a person who maybe wouldn't know who Blur are, they don't come across as a band who are mid 40's and beyond, and most of the songs still sound fresh and in many ways more relevant than they did in the 90's. 

'Trimm Trabb', the song, is amazing live and Dave is a highlight on the drums."

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Blur's Damon

Pasadena Star News criticised the show, saying "there was plenty of room for fans to sit down and take a break before the performance, which is a rarity for a Coachella main stage headliner. But audience members ran to the group's set when Blur performed the uptempo "Boys & Girls" but the rest of the set lost steam with slower tracks or the group's overall lack of charisma despite the antics of lead singer Damon Albarn, with eyes that looked red and facial expressions."

Photo Gallery
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Alex James and Damon Albarn - Coachella 2013
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Damon Albarn jumping during a song - Coachella 2013

Damon Albarn also explained to the audience about how Britain’s gray weather influenced many songs. Damon explained that the tune 'Tracy Jacks' was about a character who was bothered by the weather. “It’s very nice to enjoy your sunshine,” he said.

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A telling tweet - on Blur at Coachella 

Set list- Blur's Coachella set 4/11/13:

  1. Girls & Boys
  2. There's No Other Way
  3. Tracy Jacks
  4. Beetlebum
  5. Out of Time
  6. Trimm Trabb
  7. Caramel 
  8. Coffee & TV
  9. Tender
  10. Parklife (ft. Phil Daniels)
  11. Song 2
  12. This is a Low
  13. Sing
  14. For Tomorrow
  15. The Universal
Watch - Coachella Video Gallery 


You can watch the FULL show of Blur at Coachella, now available for online streaming below.



Despite the good reviews from Blur fans, not all of the big music magazines were swayed. Pitchfork gave Blur's show a slightly negative review, reporting that "...other headliners felt less interested in meeting the crowd halfway. Blur frontman Damon Albarn has now headlined Coachella in two different acts (Gorillaz played in 2010). But Blur’s Coachella set bore a similarity to that of their late-90s heroes Pavement in 2010: they didn’t seem particularly happy to be there or all that excited to see each other

Set opener “Boys & Girls” had a fun energy, but later in the set they made you wonder how much it pains them to still have to play “Song 2”. Maybe so much that they felt the need to satiate the diehards by leaning on atmospheric deep cuts such as “Trimm Trabb”, “Caramel”, and “Sing”."


Went to Coachella ? How's the show ?
  


Read a short review of the Blur show HERE.
Also be sure to check out The Guardian's review of Day 1 at Coachella.

Check out the FULL gallery of Coachella pictures, snapshots and photographs HERE. An Additional gallery HERE.


April 12, 2013

Blur Giveaway - Damon Albarn Graphic T-Shirt

Head's up readers! We are launching a series of very cool new Blur giveaways - one free t-shirt of choice from four designs, one exclusive giveaway each month!  

The winner will be able to select a t-shirt of ANY of the designs belowANY colour and ANY size. The shirts are available in kids sizes, ladies sizes SMALL - 2XL and mens sizes SMALL - 4XL. 

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Myiconart.com is an online shop based in Colchester, Essex. For the informed fans, there is an obvious Blur connection straight away. The shop sells T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and tote bags with cool, retro and modern popular culture-related designs. 

There's also a great selection of designs from the music section, featuring our favourite Britpop (Blur), Pop, Rock and Indie artists. 

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Fantastic Blur design selection, each inspired by a different Blur song (£19.99) 

About the designer: Interview with Anton Kampf on his Blur shirt designs

Tell us who you are and what you do!

I'm a graphic designer living in Brixton, London. I mainly design and print t-shirts but have also worked on posters and magazine covers. I would like to spend a bit more time designing gig posters and hope I will get the chance this year.  

How would you describe your design style? 

At the moment my style is very illustrative and has a comic book feel. Depending on who or what I am drawing I might use unusual colours or exaggerate features. I like to change the way I work so it doesn't feel too repetitive.

Are you a big Blur fan? 

Blur are one of my favorite bands and I still regularly listen to their music. In fact I would say as I get older I appreciate them more. Obviously I get nostalgic when I hear a classic blur song, whenever I listen to "London Loves" I am back in 90's and it's awesome.

I have seen them live quite a few times and would have to say that for me they are at their best when playing to a festival crowd. I love jumping around getting crushed down at the front near the stage and if the suns out that's even better!!! The last Blur gig I went to was their Hyde Park show in 2009 and they were as good as ever. 

How do you get ideas for your awesome Blur designs for the series? 

My Blur t-shirts just started out as a few rough sketches then when I started choosing colours and tidying up the artwork I thought they would make nice t-shirt prints. Usually you see t-shirts with the big blur logo or album artwork on it so I thought these would be great for fans that wanted something a little bit different from the mass produced merchandise. Unfortunately I haven't had time to design a Dave Rowntree print but I plan to get working on one ASAP (to complete the set).


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Anton created the Graham Coxon 'Oh My Baby" print especially for this BlurBalls giveaway. 

You can also see more of Anton's work and buy any of the prints from the Britpop section at Myiconart.com if you can't wait to see if you have won the competition. 


Enter now in the Giveaways page.

Remember to tune in every month for the chance to win one for yourself! 


April 9, 2013

Review: Blur at Vive Latino Festival 2013


This is Part II of a two part series from BlurBalls all about Blur’s 5-day visit to Mexico City, where they played a gig in El Plaza Condesa (March 15th 2013) and then in the huge Vive Latino Festival (March 16th 2013).

For this part, Mirja García writes about her meeting with Blur and reviews the Vive Latino concert.

Author’s Foreword: Hello Blur fans! This is my 5-day summary (Part I here) of my Blur experience in Mexico. First and foremost, I will try to keep it fun and short because I don't want to bore you with words. So, I thought the best idea was for my review of Blur at Mexico to be divided into a "Blur Chronicle" by days. I hope you can enjoy my review, experience with meeting Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and the rest of Blur, and some pictures I took with the band.

Day 4: Saturday, March 16th 2013

Review - Vive Latino Festival

Today was the day of the Vive Latino Festival 2013 where Blur are playing for the first time in nearly 10 years. To be honest, I knew there was going to be so much standing and lots of hours listening to different musicians perform. Before the first few artists came out on the stage, one male fan pushed me and punched me right in my mouth- he was very high, aggressive and totally not one of our Blur fans. The security guard took him out so I wouldn’t get hit again, and I was disappointed because I was right in front of Alex James’ spot.

Somehow I got on the barrier again after the Tame Impala played. At one point, my back was killing me. At the time Blur was almost coming out, I couldn't stand my back pain anymore-thank heavens I was at the barrier so that I could have a bit rest inside.

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A fan "...gave Damon Albarn a bracelet which he kept and used for the Vive Latino concert" 
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Blur’s performance at the Vive Latino was heavenly. The band members all looked so happy, I was so happy, and every single fan were too. It was the best time ever! I don’t have much to say about the concert because I only spend the time outside for Blur and not any other band. Of course, the feeling of watching Damon Albarn perform was totally amazing, and there were also big, huge screens so we could see them out there in the crowds.

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Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn on stage - 2013 

It was in my opinion, a perfect night!

Day 5: Sunday, March 17th 2013 

Even though my body needed lot of rest after watching Blur at the Vive Latino Festival 2013, I woke up early to head right to Blur’s hotel in Mexico City. Oscar (one of the biggest fans of Blur in Mexico, and the one who gave Damon a bracelet which he kept and used for the Vive Latino!) and I met up in the hotel so that we could catch Blur and meet them one more time.

The hotel lobby was full of artists that appeared to perform in the Vive Latino Festival. I have to admit I didn't pay that much attention to them. I was just focus on my beloved British band Blur. After probably an hour of waiting later, I saw one of the band’s choristers coming out of the lobby- next out was a tall, bald man who came out with Blur’s other three choristers and various staff.

I approached the tall, bald man, and he and I had the most lovely chat; he was very nice and kind to us fans, and listened as I told him how long I have loved Blur for. I also told him how much their job means to me, and how I’m grateful for all the people involve in making Blur’s music possible. We were talking about warm up gig in Mexico City’s El Plaza Condesa (see Part I) on Friday night, and we mostly talked about how great ‘The Universal’ was and how happy he felt by being here to witness the band. We took a picture together.


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After that, I waited for bit more until I saw Rudy Albarn, Damon's nephew. We shared a nice talk as well- Rudy was so nice and he looked just like a mini version of Damon! I also took a picture with him whilst he held my phone. Then I waited bit more for the band. I was amused by how kind they were to me and talked with me about random things. 

Finally, one of the main members of Blur came out- Alex James. Alex was very posh, as always, and I approach him whist other fans also reached out for him. I thought I was going to speak to him by myself; nonetheless I went towards him and we talked- he was so lovely.

I took out my Blur book and Alex started laughing at it. He said: "It's been ages since I saw this!" and also told that to one of the crewmembers beside him. He took a while to read through the book and see the pictures with me. He was laughing at a few Blur pictures, and he had a most lovely laugh. We kept on talking and he signed on my book and also on my "GRAMON INSPIRES ME" sign. Surprisingly, he also told me he saw it on Friday's El Plaza Condesa Warm-up show. We both laughed and I got to take another picture with him.

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Suddenly, I saw Damon Albarn in front of Alex. I wanted to get a better picture with the Blur front man, and luckily the fans stopped him from leaving outside. I got closer and asked if I may take a photo with him- he was very nice and immediately said "Of course". Damon dropped one of the CD's someone gave him on his way. I stopped to reach for it, giving the album back to him. I was so happy when he said “Thank you dear” to me. 

Damon also took my Blur book and leafed through a few pictures. He had a smile upon his face and then he sign in a specific page. He then read my "GRAMON…" sign, smiled and sign on it. “Did you see it on Friday’s gig?" I asked. "Yeah, I actually did a couple of times" was his reply, and we shared smiles. Afterwards, I thanked him again for everything and for playing in our Mexico City.

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Damon signed other fans’ autographs and walked to the Blur van as they had to leave. He was about to jump into it, but I needed my picture with the great man. "Damon, can I take my picture with you please?" I shouted, and he was kind enough to come out of the van and said: "Okay the last one". He walked to me and looked me in the eyes (even though he had those big sunglasses on, we could still see his eyes). Since I was short, I stood on tiptoes and he stooped down. I hugged him by his neck and he grabbed me from my nape- it was a bit of hug and someone took the pic with my phone. To give him a Mexican farewell, I kissed him on the cheek and said "Thank you". "No problem dear" he replied, and that was exactly happened for my picture. He was far too kind with everyone, to be honest.


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Top: Damon in the airport ; Bottom: Blur in Vive Latino 2013 

We were still hopeful that Blur would stay longer, so we waited for a few more hours. Bad choice- the crew had started to leave and we already knew when they were heading at the airport for the final journey. I chatted to Alex James’s bodyguard, who was also named Alex (like Smoggy with Damon). One of the crew members gave Oscar the keys to Blur’s hotel room, but we didn’t know whether Blur were going to come back at the end. It turned out they entered through a backdoor, which was blocked by security.

A fan suggested we go to the airport to say goodbye to Blur. We did just that - in fact our taxi cab was right in front the band’s van, I know it sounds slightly creepy, but it was not. We met them again, and there were more signings and photos taken. 

This time, Graham Coxon was slightly distant and reserved. He was tired from the shows but after minutes, he suddenly changed moods and became friendly and signed some more pictures. I showed him my hand-drawn sign and he immediately said "I actually saw this on Friday, it made me laugh". It was a great feeling to hear that my sign made the band laugh. Blur left for the plane shortly afterwards. It was a magic experience- my fellow Mexican Blur fans were there, sighing, thinking, and smiling, and we left the airport after few minutes after we took our first official photo as a real fan club – the Blur Mexico Fan Club.


blur mexico fan club, mirja garcia, oscar martinez silva, blurmx, blur mexico
Blur Mexico Fan Club - at the airport 

These few days were the best days of my life by far, and it meant a lot to me that I had the chance to meet my favourite band Blur. Many thanks to Oscar and all your effort to organize this Blur fans meeting. It was one of the best musical experiences I ever had- the Blur members were really lovely and caring to all the fans who attended the shows. I'm glad that they came to Mexico and played a few shows, even though they left us with a sad, melancholy feeling. We look forward to seeing Blur play again soon.

Without a doubt, ‘The Universal’ was the soundtrack for my week with Blur. To me, "it really, really, really could happen".

Written by Mirja García
(@MirjaLolita on Twitter)
Pictures from Mirja and Oscar Martínez Silva
 (@Osblur on Twitter)
March 2013


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