Philippe Auclair
@philippeauclair.bsky.social
Writes and sings for Josimar, The Guardian and Tapete Records
Janaček's "Makropulos Affair" is bonkers - genius bonkers. Thank you, Simon Rattle, for bringing it to the @barbican.bsky.social this week. The @londonsymphony.bsky.social was in top form, Marlis Petersen superb as Emilia, but the singer who caught my ear was Alan Oke in the part of Count Hauk.
January 14, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Janaček's "Makropulos Affair" is bonkers - genius bonkers. Thank you, Simon Rattle, for bringing it to the @barbican.bsky.social this week. The @londonsymphony.bsky.social was in top form, Marlis Petersen superb as Emilia, but the singer who caught my ear was Alan Oke in the part of Count Hauk.
Link to the @thefsa.bsky.social's blueprint document "Stop Exploiting Loyalty": thefsa.org.uk/wp-content/u...
January 9, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Link to the @thefsa.bsky.social's blueprint document "Stop Exploiting Loyalty": thefsa.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Perhaps time for Burnley FC to re-consider its partnership with X, no?
January 7, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Perhaps time for Burnley FC to re-consider its partnership with X, no?
Top tip by @leparisien.fr. In those icy conditions, to avoid slipping and falling, walk like a 🐧. I hope everyone listens to this excellent advice and can't wait to see the spectacle on the Euston Road.
January 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Top tip by @leparisien.fr. In those icy conditions, to avoid slipping and falling, walk like a 🐧. I hope everyone listens to this excellent advice and can't wait to see the spectacle on the Euston Road.
Thank you, Mr. Postman. That's my reading sorted for a while, I think.
January 6, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Thank you, Mr. Postman. That's my reading sorted for a while, I think.
Following Liam Rosenior's appointment by Chelsea, the statement released by the RC Strasbourg's supporters association. "A new, humiliating step in Racing's subjugation by Chelsea...The future of French football is at stake".
January 6, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Following Liam Rosenior's appointment by Chelsea, the statement released by the RC Strasbourg's supporters association. "A new, humiliating step in Racing's subjugation by Chelsea...The future of French football is at stake".
The tomb of Lionel Lockyer, the quack who claimed he could bottle sunbeams and sold pills ('Pillulae Radijs Solis Extracta') he said contained them. Their effect could be unfortunate. "Sometimes it works upwards and sometimes downwards, and it may be both ways at once".
January 3, 2026 at 10:04 PM
The tomb of Lionel Lockyer, the quack who claimed he could bottle sunbeams and sold pills ('Pillulae Radijs Solis Extracta') he said contained them. Their effect could be unfortunate. "Sometimes it works upwards and sometimes downwards, and it may be both ways at once".
If you wanted that Shibuya-kei sound, there was *one* drummer in town, and that was Yoshie. We were so lucky to have her in the band. She turned up at the first rehearsal having transcribed all her parts from our records, played them impeccably whilst jet-lagged us messed up. Total pro. Total fun.
January 2, 2026 at 3:58 PM
If you wanted that Shibuya-kei sound, there was *one* drummer in town, and that was Yoshie. We were so lucky to have her in the band. She turned up at the first rehearsal having transcribed all her parts from our records, played them impeccably whilst jet-lagged us messed up. Total pro. Total fun.
My old friend @djsplendid.bsky.social just told me the awful news. Yoshie Hiragakura was our drummer in Japan in the early 1990s. She could play bossa nova, she could also hit her kit to make it sound like John Bonham's, she was fabulous fun, and now she is no more, not even 60 years of age.
January 2, 2026 at 3:58 PM
My old friend @djsplendid.bsky.social just told me the awful news. Yoshie Hiragakura was our drummer in Japan in the early 1990s. She could play bossa nova, she could also hit her kit to make it sound like John Bonham's, she was fabulous fun, and now she is no more, not even 60 years of age.
Yes - totally legitimate! Each digital issue costs €5.90 and includes treasures like this "Japanese Cinema" special from August 1964. Link below.
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Yes - totally legitimate! Each digital issue costs €5.90 and includes treasures like this "Japanese Cinema" special from August 1964. Link below.
There is much to admire in what Sunderland, the team, are doing this season, and this first half against Man City is no exception; but there is a lot that is questionable about the club's addiction to gambling partners: six on show at the SoL tonight, including two illegal operators, W88 and 8XBet.
January 1, 2026 at 9:00 PM
There is much to admire in what Sunderland, the team, are doing this season, and this first half against Man City is no exception; but there is a lot that is questionable about the club's addiction to gambling partners: six on show at the SoL tonight, including two illegal operators, W88 and 8XBet.
The evening's soundtrack, as many evenings before.
December 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The evening's soundtrack, as many evenings before.
Cheap as frites.
December 30, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Cheap as frites.
Something which all chess tragics will be looking forward to: a new biography of a true genius, three-time British champion Sultan Khan, to be published in March 2026. Written by Khan's own son and granddaughter.
December 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Something which all chess tragics will be looking forward to: a new biography of a true genius, three-time British champion Sultan Khan, to be published in March 2026. Written by Khan's own son and granddaughter.
Enrique Collar, legendary winger of Atlético de Madrid between 1953 and 1969, a winner of La Liga and of the European Cup Winners Cup with the Colchoneros, has died, aged 91.
December 30, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Enrique Collar, legendary winger of Atlético de Madrid between 1953 and 1969, a winner of La Liga and of the European Cup Winners Cup with the Colchoneros, has died, aged 91.
In more cheerful news, the latest addition to the already wonderful Kew Gardens, the "Carbon Garden", is something of a triumph, in no small part thanks to the Mizzi Studios' rather marvellous giant mushroom.
December 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
In more cheerful news, the latest addition to the already wonderful Kew Gardens, the "Carbon Garden", is something of a triumph, in no small part thanks to the Mizzi Studios' rather marvellous giant mushroom.
I must have walked hundreds of times past the "ghost sign" for "Wimpey Autos" in Barb Mews, Brook Green, and only just discovered that it is linked to a horrific series of murders which took place in 1964 and 1965 in Hammersmith and Chiswick. The killer was never caught.
December 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I must have walked hundreds of times past the "ghost sign" for "Wimpey Autos" in Barb Mews, Brook Green, and only just discovered that it is linked to a horrific series of murders which took place in 1964 and 1965 in Hammersmith and Chiswick. The killer was never caught.
That will be the installation. Eat your heart out, Damian Hirst.
December 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
That will be the installation. Eat your heart out, Damian Hirst.
Eric Partridge's 1972 "Dictionary of Slang" should be on the curriculum. Full class guaranteed.
December 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Eric Partridge's 1972 "Dictionary of Slang" should be on the curriculum. Full class guaranteed.
Great news from Germany, where Borussia Moenchengladbach has just announced the termination of their partnership with Asian-facing betting operator AYX, following the broadcast by @zdfde.bsky.social of a documentary on the Bundesliga's relationship with illegal operators.
December 18, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Great news from Germany, where Borussia Moenchengladbach has just announced the termination of their partnership with Asian-facing betting operator AYX, following the broadcast by @zdfde.bsky.social of a documentary on the Bundesliga's relationship with illegal operators.
The @economist.com's last two posts, published within a few minutes of each other, banging on what is now their usual message: the triumph of the extreme-right is unavoidable.
December 14, 2025 at 7:53 AM
The @economist.com's last two posts, published within a few minutes of each other, banging on what is now their usual message: the triumph of the extreme-right is unavoidable.