Over a crackly satellite phone connection today, Prof Siegert managed a laugh at the timing.

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Look for bread that's crackly on the outside and airy on the inside.

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He looks thinner then ever, his voice at times sounded crackly and he had to stop at one point to hitch up his jeans.

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The phone rang at home the other day, and when I picked it up a voice down a crackly line asked if a "Mr Sellan" was there.

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Nerds like me, who posses copies of The Benn Tapes, can hear an ancient, crackly recording of Tony Benn telling his local Labour activists in Bristol that if he resigned from the '70s Labour government in which he served, because he disagreed with its policies, the result would be a Conservative election victory and Mrs Thatcher in power...

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