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Failure not an option

THERE was a new book published this week. Written by Dr Martin Stephen — or maybe we should more accurately say compiled by him — it is The Eleven-Plus Book: Genuine Exam Questions from Yesteryear. Read

Happy now, Mr Harris?

TOM HARRIS has received an almost unanimous hail of abuse for claiming that we should all cheer up and stop being so miserable. Read

Tidy up . . and make it snappy

ONE of the things I like to do when I have a moment, and inspiration strikes, is have a good old rummage at home. Read

Fate of the fete is safe

WHEREVER you are in the North, there’ll be a fete near you. Read

Heat is on for drivers

SUMMER seems to have arrived at last. What could be nicer than to invite everyone round for a garden party or barbecue? Read

Future fortune is just for fun

OUR good friends at Trading Standards will have thought they’ve died and gone to heaven this week if the reports on the television news are to be believed. Read

Make most of our coast

A “FACTOID” came my way last week, which is that huge numbers of us only ever travel a matter of mere miles from our birthplaces during our entire lifetime. Read

I’m no bright spark

THERE are quite a few occasions when I wished I’d paid more attention at school. Read

Football crazy all through summer

BACK in the long-ago days when I didn’t support a football team, I couldn’t understand what on earth was going on when they instituted the “playoffs”. Read

Comfort found in Christie

SORRY to strike a slightly sombre note this week, but I’ve been away from the radio station for a few days, mourning the loss of my brave and lovely sister, Sheila. Read

C-art-oon takes the biscuit

I DON’T know much about art. But I do, as they say, know what I like. I think I probably drive my art-loving friends to despair. “It’s a Canneletto”, they’ll exclaim in delight. Read

Guess who will pay for credit crisis

BACK in late summer — around August Bank Holiday — I wrote one of these pieces about what is now being called the credit crunch. Read

Web of lies and deceipt

IT was Mark Twain, in the last century but one, who said “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”. Read

Time to beat the taxman

HAPPY new ISA year! If you are allergic to acronyms, or financial matters, turn to Ken Oxley’s or Eddie Eats’ column immediately . . . this is not for the squeamish. Read

A stitch up, a fry up, and a tidy up

A FEW bits and pieces this week. Depressingly, the first is to do with a similar trick to last week’s lotto scam. Read

Lotto win simply too good to be true

WELL, here’s my column... but really I shouldn’t be slaving over a laptop, since I don’t have to do this anymore. Read

No excuse for top clubs’ FA ‘Cupsets’

LAST weekend, something happened that hadn’t occurred for 100 years. Not an eclipse, other than of my hopes and dreams. Not a bizarre or obscure commemoration, although, heaven knows, there are enough of those. This was to do with the FA Cup. Read

Did you make the most of leap day?

WE had that extra day that you only get once in a blue moon recently — a leap day — which is a chance to do something unusual. Read

As pets, pugs are simply perfect

I WAS pleased that mischievous Murphy won the Sunday Sun Perfect Pet competition last week. He was the adorable six-month-old black pug pictured on page three. Read

Vegging out is out, but veg is in

THIS column is brought to you this week by the makers of those yummy carrot sticks. Or “batons” as my local supermarket insists on calling them. Read

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