Author Archives: Jamie Jauncey

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About Jamie Jauncey

Author, writer, blogger, facilitator, musician, co-founder of Dark Angels and The Stories We Tell

Tennis elbow

This is a bit of an experiment. I’ve got mild tennis elbow and I’m trying to give my arm a rest, so I’m dictating via the voice recognition software that I’ve used over the last few years when writing books. … Continue reading

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Music and silence

I have two piles of books beside my bed. On top of one is A Book of Silence. On top of the other is The Big Music. I’m reading the first, the second has just arrived. Their juxtaposition is serendipitous, … Continue reading

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Holding back

I was ready to be moved to tears at the Dunfermline Crematorium, but I wasn’t expecting Steely Dan. Beloved of musical anoraks for their technical precision, and of anyone else with any pretensions to being cool for the two fingers … Continue reading

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Valentine

It was Saint Valentine’s Day yesterday. There was only one thing I could possibly write about. But first, the man. I looked him up. No one is entirely sure but the consensus seems to be that he was a Roman … Continue reading

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Chicken soup

Having a daughter at home and in need of money during the first two weeks of January I had my office redecorated, a long overdue project. Now it has ochre walls and black-painted floorboards to match the furniture I’ve accumulated … Continue reading

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Let the meaning choose the word

In 1946, George Orwell wrote of the English language: “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” He was speaking, in the main, … Continue reading

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In praise of Randy Newman

On Wednesday evening, on Radio 4’s Front Row, Mark Lawson introduced a short reading with these words: “This passage from the book contains offensive sectarian terms, although clearly they’re reported rather than endorsed by the author.” The offending words were … Continue reading

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Arctic fox

Yesterday I travelled through a monochrome landscape. It reminded me of those 17th century Dutch winter scenes with skaters and dogs, pedlars and musicians, taking their pleasure or plying their trade under leaden skies, all watched over by crows in … Continue reading

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Midwinter blues

Sometimes you just have to put pen to paper and see where you go. As EM Forster said, ‘How do I know what I think till I see what I say?’ I had planned to start this in good time, … Continue reading

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Good tidings

‘I guess I’m a “bad news” guy and you’re my “good news” twin…’ So said my old friend Paul Phillips recently. Paul writes a well-informed and trenchant blog on those big topical issues – Savile, Leveson, Starbucks and so on … Continue reading

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