Category Archives: Music

A work of beauty

In the five-and-a-bit years I’ve been writing this blog it has brought me satisfaction, pleasure, occasional anxiety, occasional joy, and a lot of good connections. It can also sometimes feel tyrannical. Today is a case in point. (More accurately, it’s … Continue reading

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Magic in the air

Sometimes there’s just a little bit of magic in the air. So it has seemed these last 10 days. I can’t really explain it, but it feels as if maybe the planets have been particularly well aligned – or something … Continue reading

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Wayfaring strangers

When I got home at lunchtime today there was a large and magnificent-looking book sitting on my kitchen table. It was warmly inscribed to me by its author, my close neighbour, Fiona Ritchie. Fiona is the presenter of The Thistle … Continue reading

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Food of love

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In the 10 years that we’ve been running our writing courses, many good things have come out of Dark Angels. Along with sharpened senses, there have been new friendships, changes of personal direction, and the  publication of writing of all … Continue reading

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Things that make me cry

‘Are you turning into a marshmallow?’ asked Sarah the other night. The answer is probably Yes. I seem to cry more easily as I get older. What’s curious though is what makes me cry. It’s not so much the things … Continue reading

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Sound advice

I’ve always found it intriguing that the beginning of all things is expressed so often in terms of sound. Science talks about the big bang. In the beginning, according to the Bible, was the word. For Hindus the moment of … Continue reading

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To the letter

Last week I spent a day with members of the housing team of a local authority. We were looking at the letters they send out to tenants on a variety of subjects, ranging from noise to rubbish to gardens to … Continue reading

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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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