ICYMI: Rowdy hens being told to cluck off and an 82-year-old actress’s naked ambition

Seville plans a cull of stags and hens… can Temple Bar join the pursuit?

Seville is cracking down on rowdy stag and hen parties. In fact, the city council is bringing a law banning people from sauntering around the streets in their underpants. The city is just one of many Spanish locations saying “thanks but no thanks” to hen and stag dos. In 2014, the Andalucian town of Mojácar banned “phallic tiaras” or “unbecoming behaviour with inflatable sex dolls”, and Málaga fines people €750 if they walk around with an inflatable penis on their heads. Could we do something similar in Temple Bar?

It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it

The 82-year-old actress Rose Knox Peebles made headlines last month after responding to a theatre critic who said she had been made up to ‘look a fright’ in a production of Das Rheingold. Knox Peebles, who was on stage naked for most of the production, responded saying she was wearing no make-up and the look was ‘entirely mine’. This week she gave an interview to the Times of London chronicling other roles she has played in recent years — including one in the Cate Blanchett movie Tár. “That was an unusual audition,” she said. “It also demanded I was totally naked and covered in faeces. I was the only person to volunteer for the job.” I can’t say I’m surprised.

Jilly Cooper rides high in the fashion stakes

Fashion Week has been and gone, and in its wake, a slew of unusual sartorial trends. This week the Times reported that ‘Jilly Cooper core’ is how to dress this autumn and winter. Cooper’s novel Tackle will be released next month, and the dramatisation of Rivals is out next year. Fashion editors are predicting there will be a surge in the sales of snug white jeans, and say “suggestive accessories” such a polo mallet are an essential part of the look. Elsewhere, the UK Independent informed us that women wearing men’s boxers for all to see is the height of sophistication. They detail how to wear them: “shimmy them up several inches above your jeans” so everyone can see them. I would definitely take the Jilly Cooper trend over that any day.

A new trick for office brownie points

Forbes magazine reported on a new workplace movement: coffee badging. This is when a worker arrives into the office for coffee, some light chit-chat, collects an imaginary brownie point and then skedaddles back to the sanctuary of WFH. This way they get to catch up on office gossip and return home to send emails from a slanket. Sounds ideal.

Brian Cox is no diva

Succession star Brian Cox is to front a new James Bond quiz show. Asked why he had taken the gig, he was typically honest: “I just thought it was witty, and I liked the idea of it. And also my involvement was not huge. It was a no-brainer, really. [Actors] get precious about: ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ I don’t buy into any kind of ‘I’m special’ thing.”