...And Another Thing:

31 Days of Bond Fashion

DAY 8: THE BRIONI OVERCOAT as seen in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

Though they are often very expensive and very well made, Bond’s clothes rarely venture into ostentation. His suits tend to be tailor-made for practicality, and even in the product-placement-driven world of Bond, his character’s modus operandi when it comes to fashion is one of quiet luxury. This double-breasted, camel-coloured overcoat, however, brought a hint of flashiness to Bond’s wardrobe in Tomorrow Never Dies, where he was posing as a banker. It has since gained cult status amongst fans who see it as one of the most interesting and fashionable costuming choices of the Brosnan era. 

Made from cashmere, the coat was described by costume designer Lindy Hemming as very soft and tailored with a long line to around mid-calf. It was central to Bond’s outfit, and she even coordinated it with a bronze tie from Turnbull & Asser for a cohesive, fashion-forward look. In general, elegant outerwear was a signature of Brosnan’s costuming. Brosnan’s Bond was rarely far from an overcoat, wearing at least one in every film, though interestingly, neither he nor any James Bond before or since has matched the colour of this Brioni number.

The coat’s buttons sat low on the body, lending drama to the silhouette and allowing Bond to show off more of his suit. In reality, this meant the coat had too deep an opening to be useful in truly cold weather. It was a coat for showing off, not for protecting oneself from the elements. In other words, it was the perfect choice of coat for playing a wealthy moneyman.

31 Days of Bond Fashion

DAY 9: THE HUNTING GEAR as seen in Skyfall (2012).

Barbour is a name as synonymous with British fashion as James Bond is with British cinema, so it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to see Bond donning a Barbour jacket on an overcast morning near Glencoe. At first glance, this outfit looks simple – exactly the kind of outfit a wealthy outdoorsy man would wear to wander about his estate – but here at Skyfall, more than ever, the devil is in the details. 

Bond’s Barbour jacket isn’t the standard zip front. The jacket is a limited edition, designed by Tokihito Yoshida. Its olive green waxed cotton is cut like a lounge suit than a hunting jacket and doesn’t feature the usual detachable hood. Eagle-eyed experts at Bond Suits likened it to Sean Connery’s tweed jacket in Goldfinger, and perhaps that was an intentional callback. Bond pairs his Barbour with a blue cashmere jumper, corduroy trousers, Crockett & Jones boots and, of course, his father’s old hunting rifle. 

The hunting rifle, however, isn’t the only sentimental thing Bond carries with him. His Tom Ford scarf, like the jumper, is made of very soft cashmere, but is otherwise unassuming. So unassuming, audiences might not give it a second glance. In fact, it was Daniel Craig’s choice to wear a scarf with the outfit in the first place. Costume designer Jany Temime explains: "He wanted [it] to look as though he had found the scarf in the Bond's family home [to reflect] the human side of his character [...] He wanted to show that Bond needed some sort of protection. It was a psychological thing, something that was supposed to be from his family."

Notably, the scarf, unlike the hunting rifle, survived the encounter with Silva. 

Let me explain:

Grotesque fascist grifter, Nigel Farage, is the leader of Reform, the racist far right party he created because UKIP got what it wanted (Brexit) and it sucked.

Having tried and failed to be an MP many times (but somehow getting more screentime than any Liberal Democrat or Green politician), he finally succeeded in the last election because people were so overwhelmingly pissed off with the Conservatives, and many right-wing people saw Reform as the new Conservative Party; partly because it's full of rejects from the Conservative Party.

Speculation: he doesn't really want to be an MP, he wants to be a fascist grifter. He's annoyed by suggestions he do things like Be In His Constituency and Serve His Constituents.

He's recently been caught having accepted a VERY large amount of money from some unsavory people that he insists was a totally legitimate 'donation' and not breaking any rules.

Only it did break the rules and it's very clear that it did and things are in motion to hold him to account.

To avoid this, he has resigned as an MP, saying this is a protest at his treatment by the 'establisment' (he is a rich fascist grifter, but he likes to cosplay as a Man of the People). This has triggered a by-election, in which he is standing, with the hope that the people of his constituency will either elect him in a resounding win, indicating they don't care that he's corrupt (having not heard everything the investigation is uncovering), or someone from Labour or the Conservatives will win and he can swan off to America, free to grift again because of what the 'establishment' did to him.

Only, all the major political parties have agreed not to stand, stating openly that this is an obvious stunt and they won't legitimise it. So if he doesn't win, he can't say it was because he was too much of a rebel and the Establishment went against him, he'll just be a loser, which doesn't play too well with the right-wingers he wants to grift. And if he does get back in the investigation will go forward without any kind of 'mandate' from his constituency buoying him up.

But. There is another option.

COUNT BINFACE IS RUNNING.

Count Binface is part of the grand British tradition of joke candidates who stand as a protest option. They usually don't get enough votes to get their deposit back (which is supposed to deter unserious people) but they don't care, because DEMOCRACY.

Of course, Count Binface has never won, but it is hilarious to see a completely serious pathetic fascist concede defeat while standing next to a man with a bin on his head to whom they are democratically equal.

But if nobody else is standing. And if enough people in Clacton-on-Sea are finally cheesed off enough with Farage not doing anything for them, there is just a chance that one of the funniest things to ever happen in politics will happen.

Imagine. Imagine for just a moment that the Grotesque Fascist not only loses, but loses to Count Binface.

UGH YAH.  Chafing under breasts and irritation in skin folds SUCKS and it only gets worse in this horrible humidity we’ve been having.

It can happen to anyone that has skin that touches other skin - below breasts, in tummy rolls, under armpits, between thighs, etc.

To prevent breast/chest chafing:

Get a bra or binder that fits you RIGHT.  Make sure it is correctly fit to your body so that it isn’t too loose & chafing from the extra rubbing and it isn’t too tight & causing extra irritation.

Keep the area as dry as possible - if you’re extra sweaty, take a quick shower, dry everything off, and switch clothes.  

Give your skin a breather - whenever you can, take off your bra/binder and stand in front of the fan.  If you’re at work all day, every time you take a bathroom break you can pull up your shirt, lift your breasts/man-boobs out of the bra/binder and just fan them off/pat them down with paper towels.

Also - almost all these suggestions are applicable to anywhere on the body, so continue reading below.

To prevent chafing/irritation anywhere on your body:

Always take off wet clothes as soon as possible

Although the goodwill is full of awesome Lyrca outfits, skip them this summer.  Stick to cotton and other breathable fabrics.

Shower regularly, and really make sure everything is dry before you put your clothes on.  Use a hairdryer.

To prevent chafing/irritation between your thighs:

Bandalettes are straps of fabric you wear just around your thighs.

Wear bike shorts, but try to avoid the super non-breathable ones.  Consider something like Undersummers or Jockey Slip Shorts

Try “Body” by bodyglide (finally not pink!)

Try Lush’s Silky Underwear - it’s a powder that isn’t meant necessarily for chubrub, but works brilliantly.

Try Fresh Balls purely for the name, or because it’s a “soothing cream for the groin area”

Lady Anti-Monkeybutt Powder!

If you have open sores:

Use an anti-biotic ointment sparingly on open sores

Cover with dry bandages

Re-apply once daily

Keep covered until healed

If you have irritation & rash:

Try diaper cream like Boudreaux’s or Destin

Dilute tea tree oil & dab it on irritated skin.  Let dry.

Consider Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel.  At night, rinse with warm water (no drying soap), blow dry, then let skin breathe as long as possible

If you have an odor consider that you may have a yeast/fungal infection.  Pop by to your healthcare provider or try an over-the-counter yeast infection treatment.  If it doesn’t work, though, definitely go to your healthcare provider.

Have fun this summer and keep dry!!!

this is not life-threatening, but also who wants weeks of diarrhea and a fucking parasite in them lol. if you suspect you've already had this and it's passed, i would see a doctor. you might need an antiparasitic anyway. if you're actively sick, see a doctor and they might be able to prescribe medication to help you get over it faster.

try to avoid eating raw vegetables, scrub fruit with a produce brush and rinse thoroughly with water. again, don't bother with premade greens or bagged salads. if you buy lettuce, remove the outer 2-3 layers of leaves.

Last week, the Trump administration quietly released a sweeping new federal rule that would use funding threats to force institutions across the country to reject transgender people. The 400-page proposed regulation would codify the administration's anti-trans executive orders into binding federal policy, imposing a blanket prohibition on federal funds going toward "gender ideology"

The proposed rule, formally titled "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," rewrites the government-wide framework governing all federal grants across every agency. Among its most consequential provisions, it requires that before a federal grant recipient can receive money, the award must pass a "pre-issuance review" conducted by a political appointee—not a career expert or peer reviewer—to ensure it is "consistent with applicable law, Federal agency priorities, and the national interest." The regulation explicitly instructs these appointees to screen for "denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic." [...] An institution that acknowledges transgender people exist—through its policies, its training, its healthcare, its bathroom access, its HR procedures, its name-change processes—could be deemed to "deny the sex binary" or to “support the notion that sex is mutable” and have its federal funding blocked.

This torches everything. And I do mean everything.

A very abbreviated list of its ramifications include (but are not limited to):

ending funding for ALL DEI related initiatives

allowing the government to terminate grants at any point for any reason

preventing researchers from publishing, going to conferences, and being part of academic societies

requiring that topics must support the president’s agenda.

What this means, and if anything I’m under selling it, is the death of science and research in America. It allows the government to restrict any topic they please at a whims notice, putting officials who have no background in the topic in charge of deciding funding continuity. It controls what gets researched and if/how researchers are allowed to share their discoveries. There are no books to burn if the government never allows them to be written. This is fascism plain and simple.

Public comments are not a vote, it is a chance for you to say "here is an issue with this law I think you need to address" and provide justification for legal challenges if it goes forward:

"Comments raise the bar that agencies have to meet when making a rule; “if an agency fails to adequately respond to significant, relevant comments in a final rule, members of the public may seek to challenge the rule in court on that basis and claim it could be struck down.ˮ"

This year’s is different. They are now federal REQUIREMENTS, which means there’s no flexibility. As was said previously, the 400 pages are not singularly devoted to being absolute shitheads to trans people. Theres a lot of stuff in there, some of which is the standard dry boring grants stuff, some of which is the horrible ideological warfare outlined above.

This document is issued by the OMB, the Office of Management and Budget, which is currently lead by fucking Russell Vought, the principal architect of Project 2025. This is how they’re going to implement all the horrible shit in there that wasn’t covered by Executive Order. Russell Vought is actively coming for my job, my marriage, and my kid, and most of my friends lost their jobs last year because of him. He is the fucking arch villain behind the heinous shit the current regime is doing.