SO BEBO HAS GONE ……

Seemingly so, or not, depending on who you believe. The site is seemingly offline at the moment due to a “temporary hitch”

There is an irony to it all. I found out about it on Twitter, the main social media I use in place of Bebo, and I am blogging about it on WordPress, the main blogging interface I use instead of Bebo.

It’s quite trendy to knock the site, but it was great in it’s heyday, back in 2006 and 2007.

The site was so big during it’s heyday, it was subject to weekly reports on Newsline about how it was corrupting the youth of the nation.

It seemed there were only two types of people using Bebo : Paramilitaries recruiting people and Paedos grooming people.

No paramilitary ever tried to recruit me and no Paedo ever tried to groom me. Feel quite left out.

Nowadays, the Newsline and UTV Live scare stories focus on Facebook and Twitter, with poor Bebo feeling left out.

It was an innocent text message that started it all for me. I’d been asked about a party that night. It was the first I knew about it, as it had all been organised via Bebo.

So, the next day, I signed up and got hooked. After adding my main circle of friends, people who worked at The Globe, I then sussed out people from school, and the period between school and The Globe, and found myself getting back in touch with old friends I hadn’t seen in ages.

I couldn’t help but think what life working at The Globe would have been like if the social media boom had happened while I worked there. I think every shift would have begun with “Andrew, a quick word about a recent status update”

It is thanks to Bebo that I fell back in love with photography. As per ettiquette, I needed to have a profile photo.

I hate getting my photo taken, so I uploaded some photos of graffiti and murals from my phone. The quality was rubbish, so I went and took better ones with a digital camera.

And thus, I got the bug, and now take photos of everything and anything.

To be honest, photos are the only reason I used Bebo the past three years, as there was very little interaction, but it was great for having a photo archive and for getting jpeg properties for putting onto WordPress.

Unfortunately, it looks like i’ll have to edit two years worth of blog posts containing photos. Thankfully, I made back-ups on Myspace (Yes, I know)

A social media site is only as good as it’s content. Facebook has friend updates, Twitter has news updates, Myspace has music uploads. Bebo …… well?

Also, I got the blog bug as well as I started writing a weekly update on what five songs I was enjoying the previous week, and my thoughts on the previous week’s football.

As well as this, I did concert reviews whenever I went to a concert.

I know that people were reading it, as songs I listed were appearing on people’s flashboxes soon after.

I’d been thinking about leaving for a while, and I took the plunge into WordPress in late 2009. There were so many better features, such as categrosiing and the ability to have more than three previous posts on a page.

Such was my Bebo inactivity, that I would get e-mails reminding me that it was a friend’s birthday, so I would log onto Facebook to wish them a Happy Birthday.

It will always remind me of the last year of my degree, as that’s when I signed up and got the most use out of it.

If this is the end of Bebo, it would have been nice if the pages were kept as an archive rather than being wiped totally.

LOL M8 XOXOXOXOXO BF4LYFE

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 27.1.2012

1. Lloyd – Dedication To My Ex
2. Lana Del Ray – Born To Die
3. Silhouette – Can’t Keep Up
4. Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran
5. The Beatles – Taxman

Seeing as it was Burns Night this week, though i’d do a Top Five of songs by Scottish acts. Why not?

FIVE SONGS BY SCOTTISH ACTS

1. Strawberry Switchblade – Since Yesterday
2. Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You
3. Waterboys – Whole Of The Moon
4. KT Tunstall – Black horse And The Cherry Tree
5. Del Amitri – Roll To Me

TOP FIVE BURNS

1= Aaron/Billy Joe
3. Gordon
4. Montgomery
5. Pete

And seeing as it was Australia Day this week, why not have a chart countdown of Australia’s finest songs?

Sadly, New Seekers aren’t Australian enough for this chart, so “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” isn’t on the chart.

I’m awaiting angry abuse from Jason Donovan fans for him being left out of this chart.

FIVE AUSTRALIAN SONGS

1. Stefan Dennis – Don’t It Make you Feel Good
2. Midnight Oil – Beds Are Burning
3. Kylie Minogue – 2 Hearts
4. Mental As Anything – Live It Up
5. Angry Anderson – Suddenly

LINFIELD 3-0 DUNGANNON SWIFTS 21.1.2012

Routine win against lower ranked opposition, a game that won’t live long in the memory, unless of course, your name is Aaron Burns.

He scored a hat-trick which secured the three points for Linfield. Amazingly, the first time since November 2009 that I have witness a Linfield player socre a hat-trick in the flesh having not attended matches where Phil Lowry (Institute and Donegal Celtic), Peter Thompson (Kilmore Rec) and Rory Patterson (Ballyclare comrades) have all notched.

The last three hat-tricks I have witnessed in the flesh have been scored by Aaron Burns, Lionel Messi and Dimitar Berbatov. An illustrious list.

Got some OK shots, but I love a shot of the entrance of the stadium just before kick-off.

The set-up was just right, so I went for it an took a snap. Enjoy

Photo Album

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 20.1.2012

1. Lloyd – Dedication To My Ex
2. Cher Llouyd – Want You Back
3. Beady Eye – Bring The Light
4. Toto – Africa
5. Vusi Mahlasela – When You Come Back

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 15th JUNE 1996

The two Paul’s, Ince and Gascoigne, are the cover stars of this edition, ahead of the eagerly anticipated group match between England and Scotland.

Scotland are represented on the cover with an image of John Collins. You may need a magnifying glass, but he’s definitely on the cover.

Five pages are dedicated to the match at Wembley, including interviews with Colin Hendry and Paul Gascoigne.

In rumour news, Christophe Dugarry is on the verge of joining Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn were keen on Bordaux players, having a year previously seen Jack Walker infamously veto any move for Zinedine Zidane, stating “Why do we need Zinedine Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?”

Portugese Brian May lookalike Paolo Couto was supposedly at the centre of a tug of war between Rangers and Manchester United.

John Collins is interviewed about his move from Celtic to Monaco. He is pictured with a massive grin on his face, possibly because he’s leaving Glasgow to live in Monte Carlo.

There is a poster of Craig Burley. The only poster Craig Burley should be on is a pro brushing your teeth advertising campaign.

Meanwhile, there is an advert for the Euro 96 video game, available on PC CD-Rom and Sega Saturn, with commentary from Barry Davies

Roy Hodgson comes in for praise from Paul Ince, who says that he help him through a difficult first season at Inter Milan, while also talking about racist abuse he has suffered at away games, as he weighs up wether to stay in Italy for a second season.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 11th MAY 1996

Ryan Giggs and Jamie Redknapp are the cover stars, as Shoot previews the 1996 FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Liverpool.

It was a big news week, as well as an FA Cup final, there was the small matter of the appointment of a new England manager, as Glenn Hoddle leave Chelsea for England, and Shoot give it a page with quotes from former team-mates wishing him well.

As part of the cup final build-up, Robbie Fowler gets a double page spread about his career so far.

With less than a month to go, the Euro 96 build-up gets underwear with a double page interview with Paul Ince about England’s chances and his partnership with Paul Gascoigne.

In rumours that look silly now : Aston Villa want to bring Dean Saunders back to the club, Arsenal want to sign Gary McAllister and Trevor Sinclair is a target for Newcastle, Blackburn and Man United.

Rangers, having just won their eighth successive title get a double page spread, with only a small amount of coverage being given to the fact that Rangers were now only one behind Celtic’s then record of Nine in a row.

Jimmy Greaves gives his expert cup final opinion, stating that Man United might win, Liverpool might win, or it might end up a draw.

After rating both prospective line-ups, he gives both teams a score of 91 out of 110.

To balance out the Robbie Fowler double pager, Ryan Giggs gets his own one ahead of the Wembley game.

The advert for the following week’s edition promises a Scottish Cup Final preview as well as free Euro 96 stickers by Merlin (Even though the official one was done by Panini)

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 13.1.2012

1. Sweet – Blockbuster
2. Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
3. The Ronettes – Be My Baby
4. Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
5. Lady Ga Ga – The Edge Of Glory

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : MATCH – 27th JULY 1996

It’s the summer of 1996 and Stan Collymore is the cover star of Match, proclaiming that Liverpool will be champions in 1997.

For some reason, they have a “Single Of The Week”, which is “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something. Sound judgement.

Three pages are dedicated to an interview with Collymore, with most of the pictures of him wearing Diadora gear. Hmmmm.

Meanwhile, John Salako is branching out into a new career, guest presenting a show on Sky One called “Boiled Egg And Soldiers”, where Spice Girls are the guests.

Going by the photos, they appear to big fans of him. Just think, Posh and Salaks could have been our Royal Family.

In rumours that look silly now : Arsenal want to sign Atillo Lombardo and Tim Sherwood, and Barcelona want to sign David Ginola.

Meanwhile, Brighton could be homeless in 1997 after Hove Council rejected plans for a new stadium at Toads Hall Valley.

As it turned out, Brighton had to play in Gillingham from 1997 to 1999, and then to an athletics stadium in the city before finally moving to The Amex in 2011.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 22nd MAY 1993

This edition focuses on Shoot’s 1993 FA Cup Final review edition, which unfortunately for them, required a replay to be played on the date of publishing.

The cover stars are Paul Warhurst and Ian Wright battling for possession in the original game.

A report of the FA Cup Final gets a double page spread.

In rumours which look silly now : Barnsley want Gordon Strachan to be their manager, and Manchester United are going to sign David Platt, Stuart Pearce, David Hirst and Roy Keane.

Aston Villa apparantly want to sign Stan Collymore. They did, four years later, after he had spells at Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

Brian Clough marks his retirement with an exclusive interview, which gets a page dedicated to it.

Aldershot Town get a page dedicated to them. Founded in 1992 from the ashes of Aldershot FC, they were started again in the bottom tier of English football.

Manager Steve Wignall said the club have a realistic ambition of being a Football League club again by 2003. They did make it back to the Football League, but not until 2008.

Jimmy Greaves letters page is as crazy as ever.

Ashley Ballhatchet from Farnham Common cheerleads for Julian Dicks getting into the England squad.

John Richards from Sunderland is unimpressed by the idea of Sunderland leaving Roker Park to a new 40,000 all seater stadium.

Meanwhile, with qualification for the 1994 World Cup looking unlikely, the plight of Scottish football gets a double page spread.

Scotland ended up qualifying for Euro 96 and France 98, but nothing since.

With Manchester United winning their first title in 26 years, long serving captain Bryan Robson gets a double page spread about his delight at this.

It was a good year for Welsh football. With the national team making a serious bid for World Cup qualification (they eventually lost out in the final game), Cardiff City and Wrexham were promoted from Division and Swansea City reached the Division Two play-offs.

In Division Two in 1992/1993 were current Premier League clubs Stoke City, Bolton, West Bromwich Albion (all three promoted), Fulham, Wigan Athletic

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : SHOOT – 6th MAY 1995

This edition sees us visit the end of the 94/95 season with Matt Le Tissier the cover star, as a campaign for him to be included in the England team gets into full swing.

The headline “TAKE MATT” is a pun on the popular mid 90s beat combo, Take That, who were riding high in the hit parade.

Meanwhile, Southampton defender Jason Dodd is featured in a player profile, where he declares that his dream babe is Teri Hatcher, and that he tapes The New Adventures Of Superman just to see her in it.

In competitions, you could win a pair of Mitre boots endorsed by John ‘The Hart’ Hartson. No, that nickname never really caught on.

In rumours that look silly now : Sheffield Wednesday want Bryan Robson to be their manager, Bournemouth will appoint Harry Redknapp if he gets sacked by West Ham, Celtic want to sign Marc Degryse and Gary McAllister is set to join Rangers.

The results section includes reports on Euro 96 Qualifiers where Northern Ireland beat Latvia, Wales drew with Germany and Scotland beat San Marino.

Matt Le Tissier gets a double page spread where stars such as Gary Flitcroft, David Linighan, Ian Bishop and David Howells plead his case. For some reason, Terry Venables ignored their calls.

Greavsies letters page is it’s usual brilliance.

Imagine if Twitter existed back then and Jimmy Greaves had an account?

Nathan Amery of Colchester suggests QPR would struggle if they sold Les Ferdinand. He joined Newcasle United that summer, and QPR were relegated in 1996.

Jeremy Dwyer of Birmingham, possibly an Aston Villa supporter says that Birmingham City would never get back into the top flight. For seven years, he looked right.

James Franey of Worcester says that if Blackburn Rovers get into the Champions League, they would struggle. He was right.

David Spencer of High Wycombe suggests that Tim Flowers should be England’s first choice keeper ahead of David Seaman. Hmmm.

Rangers seventh successive league title gets a full page, with captain Richard gough putting it down to regular boozing sessions. Innocent times.