Cool News
A LOGAN'S RUN Landmark Sees Last Day
Merrick here...
This story is about the death of a place. It was a real place, although most assume it was a set and don't know it actually existed...which makes its passing all that much more tragic, I suppose.
If you're a good Geek (if you're reading this article, I can only assume that you are), you already know what this place looked like because you've seen the 1976 film LOGAN'S RUN (despite its imperfections and deviations from source material, it's still one of my very favorite movies).
This is the place I'm specifically referring to:
It's "The Great Hall", through which throngs of naive city dwellers passed on the way to exalt the false promise of Carousel.
It's where Sandman Logan 5 and best friend Francis 7 sadistically stalked a "Runner" -- not realizing that Logan would soon become the prey.
It's where jetpacked clean-up crews drifted quietly down to dissolve the remains of a man whose only crime was wanting to live a bit longer.
In the REAL world, The Great Hall looked like this:
It was located in the Dallas Apparel Mart; for 4 decades it was host to a variety of functions.
About a year ago, The Powers That Be started tearing it down...
...and this is what it looks like today.
LOGAN'S RUN was something of a coming of age film for me. It's the first time I saw a "hero" do some very mean things; it's the first time I saw titties...and I really liked 'em. The action sequence in "The Great Hall" is the first "grown-up" big-screen chase I can recall. This place has meaning to me; it's a huge part of my Geekiness. I'm guessing more than a few readers might feel the same way...so we wanted to pass this along, and let you know it is now gone.
We don't write about places too often here on AICN, but maybe we should. Whether it be The Great Hall, Devil's Tower, Ralphie Parker's house in Cleveland, or anywhere in between...a location can sometimes be every bit as memorable as the people who populate it. There's no harm in recognizing that.
I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dicktate and The Pirate for their invaluable assistance assembling this piece.
If you're a fan of the movie, I highly recommend you checking out THIS EXCELLENT SITE -- tons of material there about the making of the film.
[[[e-mail Merrick]]]
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Sad to see some locations disappear - many of them had charm and a unique quality missing in 'newer' buildings/structures.
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Support your local Drive-In!
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It's one of those movies that proves that a good script and good acting can overcome cheesy special effects.
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Frankly it's unwatchable, like most sci-fi movies of it's time. Just another good idea for a movie done in by 70's cheese.
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Jenny Agutter was back in the days when you had maybe a dozen current sex symbols in the entire US.
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For that mall convention space that looked like Aunt Beru's kitchen. (drops drumsticks on ground)
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"Fish, Plankton and Seagreens and Proteins from the sea!" <-- best part of the whole movie!
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they can tear anything down.
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the renaissance hotel is in the background and it's a great place to stay when concerts are happending across the street at the reunion arena. in fact, I met some hot hookers at the bar there when I saw U2 on the elevation tour in the very same reunion arena later that night. why not stop there right now? friday nights are ALWAYS happenin'. and, nothing helps you drown out your sorrows like a few high quality dallas prostitutes, TRUST ME. let us know how it turns up. I mean out. I mean, oh for fuck's sake!
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years back a friend of mine was bragging that he had ordered the uncut version of the movie on film. For weeks we heard it was on the way. Finally we went to his house to view it and when THAT scene (you know the one) came up the film jumped and we were on the next scene. We asked "what happened to the nude scene?". Our friend said- "I the projector and left it running too long on the image and the film melted". I didn't ask what he was doing.
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that this place was starting to be torn down 30 years after the movie was released. i guess it should have run faster.
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At least the water gardens are alive and well over here in Fort Worth. I just saw the movie about a year ago and went out of my way to see the gardens. The great hall, I didn't know how to get there but the water gardens are within walking distance from where I work and I go there whenecver possible. It's a great shooting location. That's for sure...
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I am a retard who should always proofread...SORRY!!!!
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I agree with Merrick. Places are important. I work near the high school used in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I've drive over there are parked in the parking lot right were Ferris picked up Sloan disguised as Sloan's father. I looked over at the doorway right were Mr. Rooney and Sloan stood and had their little 'chat' before Sloan got picked up.
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Someday I hope!
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It would have been nice to visit them. I never realised that when people said Logan's Run was shot in a mall, it actually was shot in a mall! :[ Logan's Run is one of my favourite movies and largely because of those types of structures. Oh well. Thank you Merrick this really was "cool news".
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What film buff visiting the Philly Art Museum can resist the urge to run up the steps like Stallone did in ROCKY? Who doesn't walk by a certain firehouse in Tribecca in Manhattan and not expect to see Ecto-1 come screaming out? I've visited the HOUSE ON 92nd STREET (located on 93rd street oddly enough) and imagined Nazi spies coming in and out. I have stood on the street in front of Holly Golightly's townhouse apartment and imagined Mickey Rooney's (albeit racist) Japanese accented yelling coming from inside. I have traced Cary Grant's path through the Plaza Hotel in NORTH BY NORTHWEST and sat where he sat in the Oak Room. I have walked by the Oscorp building and had a drink and a hamburger in the bar from LOST WEEKEND. I've walked the same hallways that Eddie Murphy walked in THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN and watched THE BLOB in the exact same theater featured in the movie. I live only two miles away from the site where a seated President was captured on film for the first time. Films are a part of our culture and heritage and the locations that they're shot at are just as important.
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Where everyone goes to express their hunger, kick Michael Bay and fear the future is coming too soon. But I love articles like these. It shows that imagination can keep a film from ending at the credits. Or whatever.
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Best line and facial expression in that entire film.
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The love scene in An American Werewolf is my favourite of all time, Jenny Agutter and Van Morrison, awesome.
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Y'know the version that's supposed to be completely faithful to the books? (and you're killed at 21, not 30) Because the books were so much better than the movie and it could be a whole new SF franchise...
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REMEMBER this movie!" The funniest geek line in Free Enterprise was when the dude from Will & Grace dreamt he was stuck in Logan's Run, was about to turn 30, and was about to be shot by his best friend.
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http://monsterofmud.livejournal.com/64804.html
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There's some good sci-fi ideas, and it did a decent job of taking on those damn hippies, but damn was it also cheesy. They don't make sci-fi like they used to.
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even with its flaws and crappy ice robot...i'm still all about this flick..crescent fresh!
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my birds!
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Jan 12, 2007 3:46:21 PM CST
Bryant Singer what you to come out of retirement
by judge dredds dirty undies
He needs the old Blade Runner magic. Jerry Goldsmith's score for Logans Run is pretty cool, I haven't listened to it quite some time
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and poignant; time waits for no man. Does anyone remember when Pinewood Studios burned and so many of the James Bond sets were lost? There is a sadness at it’s passing. History was ending. I cut my geek teeth on ‘Logan’s Run’ too and thought it was wonderful. As it stands I’m not usually a fan of remakes but I can’t wait to see what Bryan Singer does with ‘Logan’s Run.’ Mr. Singer, if you’re out there, Michael York would be perfect as Ballard (The Old Man). Good article – thanks.
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even more so in Walkabout and An American Werewolf in London...
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All the CGI backgrounds cant replace REAL places a/o REAL sets!
The scenes in the Prequels shot in tunisia or Italy feel so much REALER because they are!
Even when CGI is photo perfect somethign always feels off!
think about the plabet of the apes shotin real outdoors parks and the like -
of course I'd miss my chance. Sanctuary sucks.
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been there many times, worked for an event company, been in every part of that building, awesome space in there....even been up in the rafters contemplating my mortality as i looked down what seemed to be a couple hundred feet to the floor below....dang, wish i had been in town, grabbed a souvenir or two...i'd think occasionally of Logan's Run (but yeah, mostly Jenny Agutter's bod)....what's next, the Water Gardens in Fort Worth? Is nothing sacred, i ask you?
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It's never TOO SOON to EAT!
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Free Enterprise there too. I always thought it looked like EPCOT.
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Don't go see it. It's way to far tes off the main interstate, and it's SO much smaller than how it appears in Close Encounters. You'll be underwhelmed.
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I believe she is in this, if my really old memory is correct>
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Today is my 30th birthday. As a Texan, that's sad to hear.. But on the plus side, 1970's Jenny Agutter. What an excuse to invent Time Travel.
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... before i saw star wars - and before logans run it was planet of the apes (the franchise) - i spotted 2 deleted scenes in that vintage preview - that convex mirror with 2 balls floating in it and that shot of francis blasting a runner in front of a crowd and knocking him into a fountain - this movie deserves a decent dvd release - the old one is very bare bones and dated - i always wanted a sandmans gun (i think they were called homers - as indicated in the logans run tv series - remember that?) - very cool movie weapon - the blue flames out the barrel was an awesome touch - the matte paintings in this movie are awesome too - very effective use of the technique - i was so into this movie as a kid that every time id be at a shopping mall or department store (back then) id secretly pretend i was in the domed city - i even combed my hair like michael york - memories like that make me miss having hair - this movie is great - it is one of (if not THE) last great dystopian future fantasies of the seventies - back when that sub genre ruled - its a pop version of zardoz - i hope bryan singer makes a killer remake
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Logan's Run was my one of my first movie going experiences. Made me the Sci-Fi geek that I am today. It was the first film I saw in an indoor theater and the second DVD I purchased (The First was Dark City) This saddens me to no end. Logans Run still holds up.
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still can't believe that classic cheese is getting remade. Damn them all!
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yup, you really do suck. This is one of the greatest Geek scifi films ever. Hey I know I will never convice you otherwise, but you still frustrate me.
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Well, they haven't torn down Valley View Mall in Dallas yet!
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He's gotta skim the top for his 31st birthday party. He hired Gary Numan to sing Happy Birthday and Gary Numan don't come cheap.
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I'm with you Merrick. This film has great memories for me also. It was the first PG movie I was allowed to go see by myself. At ten years old, that was a pretty big deal. It was a double feature with FutureWorld (love Peter Fonda in that flick).
Very sad. I always wanted to go there myself just to say I'd been there. Glad the Water Gardens are still there. Maybe I'll go there someday. -
two of my favorite movie theater experiences of all time
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However will I live with myself now? Day by day I guess, day by day...
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Ah back when PG movies had the titties in them. Check out WALKABOUT for more nude Jenny. I still have my Logan's Run PRESSBOOK they sold at the snackbar and free Life Clock crystal sticker they gave out at the theater- going to the movies was a big deal in the 70's for these EVENT pictures. The paperback book made me hornier than the movie did as a teen ( well just thinking about Jenny will do that to a man lol). Singer will have to do a "R" rated version to stay true to the novel.
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The building my wife works in overlooks the dirt lot that was, until very recently, the Ambassador Hotel where Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed. I got to watch the demolition progress over several months, a literal piece of history torn apart.
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Seriously...it's a big building. Get some friggin perspective.
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here's the story from wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/ycdcnn
gotta say I don't think I've ever seen the original and I'm less than two months away from 32. not sure how it slipped past me. -
Damn, what a landmark. Oscar ceremonies in the Coconut Grove. It's where f-ing Lucy "stayed" with Ricky during the LA trip. Damn LA. Major loss. Shot a fucking Super 8, USC Film School project there in the 80s. Damn, damn, damn.
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I'm willing to bet more people are cut up about this than will be when you shuffle of this mortal coil. Why don't you keep shit like that to yourself you pathetic piece of shit.
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Hell, yeah, locations make a difference. This was one of THE movies for a 70s kid. And, hell, PHILIP JOHNSON designed the damn Water Gardens, folks. Iconic. Next time you see a movie, check out the location manager's name - we work our asses off.
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Film is the ultimate library. Ten years ago, my parents bought a home built in 1935. We found a shitload of 16mm home movies in the basement. One night, I set up a screen in the den, and started watching. Imagine the effect, when I started viewing one movie filmed in the same room I was in. Literally, the camera was pointed towards a wall, the same wall where my screen was set up. There were people talking, and waving at the camera. It was a damn time warp. Totally Twilight Zone. We were in the same room. Damn, I love film.
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I did many similar things. I was actually inside No. 6's apartment from "The Prisoner" before he's taken to "The Village," Been at the same stairs in Chicago where they filmed "The Untouchables" shootout(Its a lot smaller in person.), at three locations where the original 1956 "Invasion Of the Body Snatchers" was filmed(Try running down that back hill without breaking your neck when Kevin McCarthy is being chased by the townspeople where Bronson Cave is!)was on the original Pacific Ocean Park Amusement Park where the original finale of the tv series, "The Fugitive" took place before most of it fell into the ocean and later was torn down, watched "The Right Stuff" sitting across from Chuck Yeager and Gordon Cooper, watching them watch the actors portray them on the screen and a ton of other stuff. Man, to have actually been in the same theater where the original "Blob" was shown is great! Its moments like these being there most of us enjoy and will always remember.
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...with nosferatu jones. i love 80's movies especially as they take me back to being a kid.
best location ever, the mall in fast times. also pulled down. -
I was in a screening for Singer and co. of The Island, which sort of took the wind out of a lot of people's sails (this was while shooting SR), as Bay's film was so beholden to LR (and a few others). Which was too bad, as a lot of work had already been done. On the other hand , Bay's film did bomb.
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Nipples on Optimus, BROTHER!
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and now it's gone :( Alas, Dallas once more confirms the impression that history is just one more commodity on sale. I still remember when the plan for making downtown a bit less unbearable (there's no way to make it "beautiful" without several truckloads of explosives) featured a fountain right where the Kennedy memorial is located... More than once they were all too eager to destroy the Fair Park art deco ensemble to "renovate" the Cotton Bowl. Alas, in this city, there probably is nothing that's not for sale and fit to be demolished if something else promises more greenbacks. That's all this city cares about.
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That's the best I got. The worst is I stomp around every day where Benicio's The Hunted was filmed.
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to double-check that it wasn't Harry writing this. If you added a bunch of typos and about 15,000 words, you wouldn't know the difference.
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I read in some UK film mag that Bryan Singer has dropped LOGAN'S RUN from his schedule while he works on SUPERMAN RETURNS AGAIN (or whatever). Good. When the third act of a $200 million movie involves James Marsden piloting a light aircraft away from a big wave, with the hero unconscious in the back seat, you officially have no talent. And tell it like it is - X-MEN 3 had more action than 1 & 2 combined. Ratner sucks, but not to the depths that Singer does. He managed to get Patrick Stewart to stop being Picard long enough to be... well, Picard in a wheelchair. Way to direct, Singer. LOGAN'S RUN should be done by Paul Greengrass or Zack Snyder. That is all.
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A place that got a second chance because of movies.
http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Bradbury_Building -
to check out all the Jaws locations. You'd think they'd be proud of the Jaws association in Martha's Vineyard but it's totally played down.
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Is Singer's Remake of Logan's Run still on or is he doing the next Superman movie first?
Anyone know? -
near the place my parents stayed for their vacation in florida. I never saw the movie, but where they shot is a little roadside stand.
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While I'm a big fan of Logan's Run, this doesn't bother me too much.Now if it was the Monroeville Mall,that would be another story! That should be declared a national landmark!
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in Jordon. You have to walk down this long narrow chasm in two huges cliffs, then it opens out straight into The Treasury building. Realling cool! I was humming the Indy theme as I walked upto it, lol
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When I went to see Clerks 2 it happened to be at the theatre nearest to the location that was used for the Mooby's restaurant. It was an old Burger King in Buena Park, CA. After we saw the movie, my friend and I went there for a burger and the whole restaurant was gone. Just a vacant lot remained. Not a huge deal, but if they were gonna tear the place down anyway, they should have at least blown it up for the movie or something. =)
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I think my fiancee is afraid that if we honeymoon in LA I'd be dragging her to movie locations everyday for a week. "Come on honey today we're doing the Bradbury Building, Griffith Park, the POLTERGEIST house in Simi Valley, Nakamoci (SP, I know) Tower from DIE HARD and...." It'll be the shortest marriage since Greg Allman and Cher.
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I found the doorway where Orson Welles is hiding in The Third Man in Vienna. Dont go on the tour i found it easy myself...still the same.
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At least we still have the Water Gardens over here in Fort Worth, but there's talk they may not be around much longer either.
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Sorry but I have to throw in the gratuitous cliche at least once. I never saw Logan's run and, judging from the trailer, never will. Projects as much intrigue and excitement as Ben Stein delivering a euology.
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I never liked the film...
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great memory seeing that movie with my dad.I be came obsessed with building model city's after that too.
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If you are ever there, check out the private dining room in the Blackstone Hotel - its where they filmed the scene from untouchables where deniro baseball bats the guys head. Also the train station where they did the steps and pram thing from balteship potemkin
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I had my Junior and Senior prom there. That's too bad, it was a really amazing space.
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Nice try, but you'd be wrong.
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..I'd blind horses to be with her.
Yeah--I saw "Equus", So what of it? -
I remember seeing Logan't Run when it came on TV in 1977. They were promoting Farah Fawcett Majors and her role was actually very small. Jenny Agutter was very beautiful in a underscored way with her short skirt and the jewelry around her neck. But looking at it much later, I noticed that the Francis character showed some homosexual instincts particularly in the way he was ready to kill Jessica (Jenny Agutter's character) to keep Logan for himself. Whoo Boy! Sexual Politics at that day and age.
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Hooray for titties!!!!!!!!
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Well, not literally.
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Worthiness of design isn't the point of the posting.
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Still looking for Sanctuary. Even checked under the couch....
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To Ft Casey where An Officer and a Gentleman was flimed, Pike Place Market from Sleepless in Seattle, and Alderran before the Big Bang. I lied about the last one.
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