"Been a while since we had to do this, " he muttered.

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He muttered and switched on the meter.

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Mother muttered as he shook his tambourine.

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Some in the crowd rolled their eyes or muttered under their breath, he said, and others were clearly uncomfortable.

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But just as striking for me has been the experience of sitting no more than a metre and a half away from Oscar Pistorius - able to hear his breathing patterns, his sobs, muttered prayers, and to see the muscles strain on his neck as he stares forward, with the concentration you would expect from someone braced for the start of an Olympic final.

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"I think they do something like that at the church, " the woman muttered, then scooped up her child and hurried off, his head bobbing as he looked back at us over his mother's shoulder.

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