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Welcome to Spare Times' Big Brother Special

Big Bro

Spare Times is, for the next 13 weeks, dedicating itself to all things Big Brother. If it goes on in the house, it goes into this blog, together with all the gossip, the latest BB news, who's been kicked out and who's kicked off. Our crack team of Big Brother writers, who will be spending far too much time in front of the box, will give you their views of the housemates and who they think should face eviction. And you can share your BB opinions too. So get watching, and get blogging!

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February 2008 Archives

Leap of Faith

Posted by Jamie on February 29, 2008 11:04 AM

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According to various news sources, as my salary is based on a year having 365 days in it, today (February 29) should be one to spend as I see fit.

With that in mind, I'm going to go home and put my feet up.

That is, as soon as I make it past the machine gun turrets, sniffer dogs, armed patrols and high-wire razor fencing which has mysteriously appeared around our office this morning.

Anyone would think the management had cottoned on.

Least Haunted?

Posted by Jamie on February 27, 2008 10:16 AM

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We all have our guilty viewing pleasures, and holding strong at the top of my list is Most Haunted on (ironically) Living TV.

For those who have never seen it, former Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding and her team - a camera crew, a historian, a medium, a few helpers and the odd sceptic - visit locations across the UK which are notorious for paranormal activity.

It's one of cable telly's biggest success stories and is recommissioned year after year- despite the fact nothing remotely supernatural has ever been caught on camera.

Feathers Flying/Flag Flying

Posted by Jamie on February 25, 2008 9:21 AM

This is getting sad. For the second Saturday in a month, I found myself watching the webcast of another nation selecting its Eurovision entry - but I'm sure you'll forgive me this indulgence.

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This was the Irish selection - with all eyes focused on a certain turkey puppet with a flatulence problem.

Bo Siddley

Posted by Jamie on February 25, 2008 9:07 AM

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A delegation of Southport Visiter staff headed for Mathew Street in Liverpool on Friday night to see our very own cheeky newsroom monkey, John Siddle, in concert at the Cavern Club.

It's Blighty, Alrighty

Posted by Jamie on February 22, 2008 9:32 AM

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This year? Surely not again...?

I am a terrible person.

This week, the six shortlisted acts for the UK ticket to this year's Eurovision in Belgrade (unless the event winds up being moved somewhere more politically stable before May 24) were announced, and it includes Southport's own Aimee Kearsley as one half of electro-pop duo LoveShy.

Get your credit card out, Glo

Posted by Jamie on February 19, 2008 3:09 PM

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You may remember a rather fluffy piece of pop from Cuban songstress Gloria Estefan.

It was called Go Away and was released, ooh, about 15 years ago now.

The object of Ms Estefan's plea was one Fidel Castro, as two-year-old Gloria and her family fled to Florida, USA, after the Cuban revolution in 1959.

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Ever since, Gloria has always said that on the day Castro no longer rules Cuba, she'll buy everyone in the country a sandwich.

Hope you're a bit flush at the moment then, Glo.

Working on it

Posted by Jamie on February 19, 2008 8:37 AM

It's six weeks in to 2008, and this year I am determined to get back in to the same shape I was five years ago, before I settled down in to a happy relationship.

Once contentment set in, the amount of lardy food I was eating became inversely proportional to the amount of exercise I was doing, and after a few false starts in the years in between, these attempts seem to be working. So far.

I crossed my first hurdle on Saturday afternoon, when I went to get my hair cut.

Dedicated to Gus

Posted by Jamie on February 8, 2008 5:22 PM

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I've just found out that my old teacher from Wallasey School in Wirral, Gus Cusick (don't think I ever knew his real first name) died yesterday.

Gus was the sort of teacher who everybody loved - it didn't matter if you were academic, sporty, or both - he had a laid-back, down-to-earth way with everyone and was much respected for it.

I believe he retired from the teaching job, but still turned out for his rugby team, the Old Parkonians, into his early sixties.

There won't be a church or crematorium in Wirral big enough for everyone who'll turn up to say their goodbyes to the man, and rightly so.

Gus, here's to you.

Flippin' 'eck Tucker!

Posted by Jamie on February 7, 2008 8:32 AM

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I haven't seen it for years, and I can't pretend it's a show I'd set the video for, but there is something very sad about the passing of Grange Hill.

Sands of Rhyme

Posted by Jamie on February 6, 2008 10:07 AM

Marc Almond is calling for Southport to be included on Liverpool's musical map.

Proud Merseysider that I am, I'd have thought the town would rather stand on its own reputation than be a cherry in Liverpool's huge slab of the pop history pie.

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Should Southport be part of another city's musical heritage?

There's been books about Lord Street, Pleasureland, and famous Southport faces - maybe this is one area of the resort's contribution to the world which deserves an anthology of its own?

And if you write it - let us know at the Visiter and we'd be glad to tell the story of your endeavours.

Aah, 2002...

Posted by Jamie on February 5, 2008 8:36 AM

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Watched I'm Alan Partridge on that Dave channel last night.

It's a sad indictment of our times, however, that it wasn't the rather hilarious antics, spot-on timing and rapier script which made me sit up in my chair.

No, that was a shot of the forecourt sign outside the garage where Alan's mate works.

74p for a litre of petrol?

Aah, 2002. They were heady days.

Everybody Loves Estonia

Posted by Jamie on February 4, 2008 8:42 AM

Estonia

Following the unintentional entertainment of Montenegro's attempts to select its Eurovision entrant last week, this week I found myself plonked in front of my PC for two hours (not something I could do every day) watching the webcast of this year's Estonian final, the Eurolaul.

Now, this was a totally different ballgame. Although they have only been entering the Contest since 1994, the Estonians got the grasp of what made a crowd-pleasing tune fairly early on, and went on to win the whole European kit and caboodle in 2001 with something quite dreadful called Everybody.

Could the ultimate victor in this 10-strong tussle of tune repeat the feat? Read on...

Infantile

Posted by Jamie on February 1, 2008 10:26 AM

It was truly bizarre, grown women cooing over disturbing plastic recreations of newborn babies.

Did you see it? I know it was a repeat, but the Channel 4 documentary My Fake Baby was one of the most chilling programmes I have seen in a long time.

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Spare Times in the February 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.

January 2008 is the previous archive.March 2008 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the home page or by looking through the archives.