Friday, 6 September 2013
Beyonce and papa Jay Z reveal beach bodies aboard luxury yacht
Peter and Paul Okoye of P-Square become honorary Calgarians
George Zimmerman's wife files for divorce
Shelley said in an interview with 'Good Morning America' last week that she was having serious doubts about remaining married to George, not because she didn't believe he acted in self defense, but because she was just disappointed. She also said they lived in hiding while awaiting his trial.
"We have pretty much lived like gypsies for the past year and a half. We've lived in a 20-foot trailer in the woods, scared every night that someone would go and find us and that it would be horrific," she said.She also told ABC she is deeply sorry for the Martin family's loss. "I can't even begin to understand the grief a parent experiences when they lose a child," she said. Shelley and George married in 2007 and had no children.
Malawi can’t surprise us – Mikel, Oduamadi
Mikel Obi
The
Super Eagles have ruled out any form of surprise from the visiting
Flames of Malawi as both sides prepare for the crucial 2014 World Cup
qualifier holding in Calabar on Saturday.
Nigeria need only a draw to advance to
the knock-out stage of the qualifying series, while Malawi must get
maximum points from the encounter to progress in the competition.
While Malawi coach, Tom Saintfiet, had
several times assured his employers that they will win the game,
promising to shock the Super Eagles on their turf at the U.J. Esuene
Stadium, the Nigeria players on Thursday dismissed any such threat from
the Belgian.
Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, said the
Eagles had grown beyond falling to new tricks in the game, insisting
that they were prepared for the encounter.
“We have a very good coach who
understands the team; everything has worked out fine for Nigeria since
(Stephen) Keshi took and I’m positive Saturday’s game will not be
different,” Mikel said.
“We don’t underrate any team, that’ll be unprofessional, but I don’t think there’s any new trick (from them) we can’t handle.”
Mikel added that he is at his best
playing for Nigeria, admitting that he had to step up his game after the
fans were critical of him.
He said, “The fans were a bit hard on
me, but understand (their feelings) because it was because of the love
they had for me. They want me to play better, and now I’m playing better
than before.”
Oduamadi, who only arrived in Calabar on
Thursday after a flight glitch, said the team were aware of the
desperation in the Malawian team and would be prepared for the
unexpected.
“It’s always good to expect surprises
especially when it comes to crucial games. But we’ve played several
games against very strong sides so we know we have an idea of what to
expect on Saturday,” Oduamadi said.
In Pictures: Yung6ix Shoots “First Class” Video
The Yung6ix fever is growing stronger as photos from the set of his “First Class” video has surfaced. From what we have gathered, the video was directed by Unlimited L.A and will be premiered in days. Check out the self proclaimed best Nigerian rapper in action. More pictures after the jump and you can consume the hot track too!
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Pastoral Power! Holding That Much Power
Religious officials have wayyyyy too much power and authority in Nigeria and it’s really all kinds of ridiculous.
Last Saturday, I attended a wedding I’d been anticipating for months. About an hour before the wedding was to start the heavens opened, you might not know this, when it rains in Lagos it pours. No gentle drizzling for this city, it’s a torrential downpour or nothing. I’ve had to remind myself a number of times that we don’t have tornadoes and hurricanes in this part of the world, and despite the terrible winds we’re safe.
Anyway, we hunkered down at home, until the rain abated, it would have been craziness to step out in that weather. To me it was a no brainer that the bride would stay nice and dry inside her house. We still made it to the church in decent time, and as expected the wedding hadn’t started. I proceeded to study the church and people. If you’ve ever been to a Nigerian wedding, you’ll know why I was studying the people, Nigerians may have troubles in medicine, finance, construction, name it, but we’re all fashionistas.
To help you visualize the church, this is all you need to know; it was a traditional orthodox church. If you haven’t been to a church in a while (or ever), here are a few more clues, think high ceilings, stained glass windows, and hard wooden pews with even harder kneelers (Hunchback of Notre Dame anyone? It obviously wasn’t as regal ). The choir was stationed at the front of the church to the left and right of the altar/sanctuary; their outfits terribly ill-suited for our climate. Not only were they wearing heavy robes, they also had these funky chiffon-lace neckpieces that came all the way up their necks, kinda like a turtle neck. I was like people really? Do y’all realize you are in the tropics, and the church is not air-conditioned? The neck pieces weren’t even their original white anymore, but back to the original story.
The wedding march begins, and the bride walks down the center aisle on her father’s arm. I’m mentally and verbally congratulating her for getting there only 20 minutes late. I settled down for a beautiful wedding ceremony. No! That would have been way too easy, instead we got to listen to Mr. Debbie Downer (deacon/pastor/priest) who in all his wisdom, decided to keep the bride standing and scold her. I’m paraphrasing here but the essence of his rant was, “You made the Bishop of our diocese wait, there are Kabiyesis (local chiefs) here, distinguished men and women who have come to celebrate with you and you’ve kept them waiting”. I was completely aghast at this point, looking around; I noticed similar expressions on everyone’s face, people going “Haaaa!!!” with open mouths, but he was on a roll. Next I heard him say “come here and apologize to everyone”. Now, it’s to my friend’s credit that she’s a lot wiser than me because she actually apologized.
As for me and my household, the church wedding would have ended there oh! I would have just said “To the reception hall everybody, thank y’all for coming, you are far too kind”. I probably would have regretted that, because the consequences would have been terrible. Anyway, the wedding went on, the couple was married which was the most important thing. An hour we were out of there and proceeded to have a terrific party.
I was still getting over my Saturday experience, when I went to church on Sunday and had another encounter with the clergy. This was my first full church experience since coming back and quite honestly it was a bit weird. I missed my church, the small intimate building, with the sense of community. There wasn’t anything wrong with this church, but it was so big and cold, there weren’t any familiar faces or people smiling and saying hello**sniff**. I did sit behind the most adorable little boy and he kept me company all through mass. At some point he kept offering me his half eaten cracker, I knew if I attempted to take it he would probably freak, so sadly I had to leave it alone.
Half way through the sermon, a few babies started crying and just being babies. The priest interrupted his sermon to say “please control your babies”. Ohhhhh!! I wanted to give him a piece of my mind; poor babies were probably bored. But seriously, control them? I generally don’t have a problem with the fact that Catholic priests remain single; however, this would be a great argument for those who say they should get married. If he had kids of his own, he would know that babies get a bit fussy sometimes, and parents can’t go rushing out of church every time their kid whimpers. We encourage parents to come to church, and we want them to raise their kids in church. It’s only natural that we’ll have some incidents like this. I would think a church congregation can tolerate a few unhappy babies, and if they can’t something might be lacking in the message they receive on Sunday….just saying.
On a positive note, we now have female altar servers in Nigeria, I was so happy to see them. If I had that opportunity as a child, I would have been all over that, even if it was just to show those boys that a girl could do the job J
For more please visit: www.tobeehonest.com
How Vin Diesel Pulled a Fast and Furious Deal to Bring Back ‘Riddick’
Vin Diesel stars in 'Riddick' (Photo: Universal Pictures)
Vin Diesel is best known as the guy who plays street racing Dominic Toretto in the "Fast and the Furious"
franchise, but that's not the beginning and end of his ambitions as an
actor. Diesel is a guy willing to fight for the right role, and he used
his return to the "Fast and Furious" movies as a bargaining chip to get
another shot at playing one of his favorite characters.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, filmmaker David Twohy revealed some of the wheeling and dealing that Diesel used to bring "Riddick," the second sequel to his 2000 sci-fi cult favorite "Pitch Black," to the screen.
"Pitch
Black" gave Diesel his first breakout role as Riddick, an escaped
criminal whose ability to see in the dark becomes a major asset when
he's stranded on a remote planet in the midst of a month-long eclipse.
"Pitch Black" became a modest hit that gained a passionate fan
following, and Diesel and director David Twohy were eager to bring
Riddick back to the screen. However, the 2004 sequel "The Chronicles of Riddick"
was produced on a much bigger budget, and the return on investment
wasn't good — it brought in just $57 million in the United States on a
budget of $110 million.
However, Universal, the studio that made "Pitch Black" and "The Chronicles of Riddick," was also the studio behind "The Fast and the Furious,"
and when the studio executives wanted Diesel to return to the car-chase
franchise — even for just a brief appearance — Diesel was willing to
make a deal.
"After
'Chronicles,' [Universal] said, 'We are out of the Riddick business.
It's just a straight business calculation of us. You spent too much
money and you didn't make enough back. So, no, we're not going to do
anymore,'" Twohy said. "Vin,
being the savvy guy he is, said, 'Well, give me the rights back.' And
they didn't want to do that ... I think this was about the time that
'Fast 3' had already shot and they were testing it. Maybe it wasn't
testing as well as it should have and they decide, 'Maybe we need a
cameo from Vin' – because he wasn't in that movie. So, I do believe that
in his savviness, Vin said, 'Don't pay me for that cameo. Just give me
the rights back.' So, [Diesel's production company One Race] basically
controls the rights and because I control all of the sequels and
remakes. So, we can't make a movie without each other, nor would we want
to. So, that's how he got the rights back and I think that was a great
business move."
It was a great trade for Diesel, considering his cameo in "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"
amounted to only a minute of screen time at the end of the film. But it
paid off for Universal as well, since it opened the door for Diesel to
return for more "Fast" movies, each more financially successful than the
last (this summer's "Furious 6" has made $787 million worldwide).
Learning from their mistakes on "Chronicles," Diesel and Twohy shot "Riddick"
independently, on a lean budget of $38 million, and told a more tightly
focused story, with the criminal on the run from bounty hunters. When
it came time to find a distributor for "Riddick," Twohy was surprised to
find that one of the candidates was the studio that initially didn't
want the project.
"I thought
it was going to be Sony or Film District — they were both eager to have
the movie," Twohy said. "And then, guess what? Universal raises their
hand, 'Well, what about us?' And I said, 'This doesn't feel right to
me.' But Vin, he was saying, 'That was then, this is now." So with the 'Fast and Furious'
franchise and his relationship with Universal over that and the
strength of those, we placed it again at Universal. So, the company that
kicked us to the curb picked up the movie and will be distributing it
in the U.S. and Canada."
It does look like the unusual
back-and-forth dealings will pay off for both Diesel and the studio.
Tracking shows the film is set to take the top spot at the box office,
dethroning "Lee Daniel's The Butler" after it's three-week run at #1. The Los Angeles Times
reports that the film could make between $20-30 million for the
weekend, which is about what "Chronicles of Riddick" opened to (though
it cost over three-times as much to make). Even the critical reception
has been better this time out, with a RottenTomatoes score (a not
stellar but not awful 57%) nearly twice that of the previous film.Regardless of the film's success, Diesel is clearly happy to have another shot at playing Riddick. At the film's premiere in Los Angeles, the actor said of the role, "It's the story of my life."
"Riddick" opens in theaters on Friday, and Diesel will be back in "Fast & Furious 7" next summer.
Dozens injured as 130 vehicles crash in Kent, UK
Dozens injured as 130 vehicles crash in London
Sixty
people have been injured as more than 130 vehicles were involved in a
series of crashes in thick fog on the Sheppey crossing in Kent.
The BBC reported that eight of those hurt in the collisions, which took place in thick fog, sustained serious injuries.
Ambulance crews said 35 casualties needed hospital treatment in what were described as “horrendous scenes”.
The A249 bridge was closed for more than nine hours and reopened to traffic at about 17:30.
One witness said visibility had been
very poor at the time of the crash but drivers were approaching the
crossing with no lights.
Others at the scene described a mass of
tangled cars, lorries, and a car transporter. Some reports said the
crash went on for 10 minutes as cars continuously collided with each
other.
South East Coast Ambulance Service
(Secamb) said a further 200 people were either treated for minor
injuries or given advice should symptoms develop later.
Firefighters had to free five people from their vehicles on the southbound carriageway.
The injured people were taken to six different hospitals in Medway, Ashford, Margate, Maidstone, Canterbury and London.
Medway Maritime Hospital declared a
major incident and cancelled all its routine planned surgery, to help
deal with the incident.
Service returned to normal at the hospital at about 14:00 BST.
Secamb said the first ambulances left
the crash scene at 08:50 BST because much of the triage and early
treatment was carried out at the scene.
Patients started arriving in hospitals shortly after with Medway admitting its first casualty at 09:45 BST.
The national speed limit applies to the
dual carriageway crossing, with cars able to travel up to 70mph, the
Highways Agency said.
Driver Martin Stammers said the scene was “horrendous” and described seeing cars under lorries and people lying on the floor.
He said visibility was about 10 to 20
yards when he approached the bridge and saw five cars smashed into each
other with one across the outside lane.
He managed to squeeze through a gap between that car and the central reservation.
“For 10 minutes afterwards, all we could hear was screeching, cars thudding into each other, lorries crashing,” he added.
He said he and his son ran to warn other drivers and warn cars to slow down.
Check out Davido's 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
Dangote signs multibillion dollar deal with banks to build oil refinery in Nigeria
IDL Side One And Friends Storm Ibadan
The
atmosphere was charged with excitement as Side One teamed
up his friends, Reminisce, O’Black, Skaliey Mental, Nene to evoke
smiles from the faces of the audience. Continue...
Speaking at the event, Mr Akin Akinseloyin, the Brand Manager of
Action Bitter,, expressed gratitude and delight for the turnout and the
performances of the stars.
“I
am so humbled with the unprecedented turn out for this event that is being
powered by Action bitters and Squadron Dark Rum. We are promoting the Spirit of
Naija and encouraging the youth to be the best they can be and tonight’s
performance is a good demonstration of being able to connect with
students and the good people of Ibadan . Side One and his friends have
been remarkable and our brands, Action Bitters and Squadron Dark Rum are
without a doubt pleased to be associated with them.’’
Also, speaking at the
event the Brand Manager Squadron Dark Rum, Mr. Dokpesi emphasized that the
brand is not just motivated by the sheer love of the musical entertainment
but is moved by an unrestrained passion to support anything Nigerian. The
thrust of this sponsorship is to make the brand to remain continuously
connected with the target audience.
The popular musicians were not the only ones to grace the
stage that evening. Medal, Kingdom dancers, Mozion, Top show also gave the guests
a wonderful time. Fans had the opportunity to enjoy the various cocktail
made from Action Bitters and Squadron Dark Rum.
Fashola bars Molue from Lagos Island
The Lagos State Government has barred big commercial buses, popularly called Molue, from operating on Lagos Island.
The government explained that it also
did not expect the buses to ply Third Mainland, Eko and Carter bridges,
adding that operating in the Central Business District had become
history for the buses.
A statement from the Lagos State Traffic
Management Authority on Thursday said the move was to ensure adequate
monitoring of the operations of commercial vehicles and compliance with
traffic rules and regulations.
The statement said the General Manager
of LASTMA, Mr. Babatunde Edu, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting
with branch chairmen of the Lagos Urban Bus Owners Association of
Nigeria, the operators of Molue buses in the state .
Edu said, “This directive had become
effective since August, 2012, but Lagos State Government, being a
responsive and responsible government which believes in enlightenment
before enforcement, decided to shift the enforcement to September 2013.
“LASTMA officials have been mandated to ensure strict compliance and impound any Molue that is found to have flouted the directive after September 4, 2013.”
The General Manager told the operators
that the government had not banned them, therefore they could perform
their operations in any other parts of the state apart from the
restricted areas.
Edu said, “The government has not banned the operations of Molue in the state. Rather, it has restricted their operations to areas like Orile, Iyana Ipaja, Mile 2 and Mile 12.”
He said the prohibited routes included Iddo, Ebute Ero, Apongbon, Obalende, Idumota and CMS.
The leader of the team, Mr. Taofeek
Adesina, commended the government for its effort to restore sanity and
order in the state and pledged the readiness of his union to support the
new cause.
Groupie claims Robin Thicke & Paula Patton have an open marriage
From Life & Style
In an exclusive interview in the new issue of Life & Style, Lana Scolaro reveals that not only did she hook up with Robin that night, but she did so while Paula was just a few feet away. "I don’t think he cared what she thought,” Lana tells Life & Style. “I was with him the whole night!”
The two had met the week before at a friend’s party, and she says he immediately approached her at the 1Oak VMAs shindig with the pick-up line, “I just love the fact that you’re so young. His hands were everywhere,” says Lana.
Lana says that initially she pushed him away because he's a married man, but that Robin told her Paula was “chill” and even encouraged Lana to talk to her.
And his bad behavior only continued as Robin led Lana into his car to leave the nightclub and, oddly, his wife joined them. They all headed to a bash at a suite in the Greenwich Hotel, where Robin and Lana got closer on the couch.
“I went to the bathroom, and when I came out he was standing there,” she tells Life & Style. “He turned off the lights so no one could see us, and he started making out with me. He was grabbing me. He was like, ‘I want to get you into bed!’”
Though he tried, Lana tells Life & Style that they kept getting interrupted. But when the party broke up at 8 a.m., Lana says he gave her his number and said he would see her soon during NYC Fashion Week.
Photos: B Elect of award winning rap group Thorobreds weds
Miss Nigeria pageant organisers battle Miss Nigeria 2011 over car
Feyi spoke with Encomium mag about the incident and other troubles with Daily Times. She said:
"They have been trying to take my car for months now. They have been harassing me all around to surrender the car. The first time they tried it, they tried to for my car open. The second time I had to drive into a police station where the car was impounded and later released to me. Later, the Lagos Police Command invited me for a meeting. They spoke to me and Mr Anosike (Daily Times MD) and they requested I provided the car.
I told them it was in Ogun state and they gave me three policemen to follow me to Ogun state to retrieve the car, that's where the kidnap story came from. I don't understand why they keep requesting for a car I won alongside the crown at the pageant. Maybe because I was given another car by Ogun state governor for being an ambassador, but even at that it's still my car. There was never an agreement that I should return the car after my reign. The car is presently with the police. I feel so harassed and humiliated. I didn't enjoy my reign. Even when I wanted to go abroad for my scholarship, I couldn't do that because when I asked for my scholarship which was part of what I won at the pageant, they told me it had expired. They didn't do anything for me as a beauty queen. I was not even invited to this year's pageant. I was the last queen and I should have crowned the next one, but they didn't even invite me." A rep of the Miss Nigeria pageant, managing editor of Daily Times, Mrs Isabella Osamor said...
"I really don't know the genesis of the whole thing. All I know is that Feyi has two cars and we wanted to recover one and we have asked the police to do that, so the matter is now between her and the police not us.
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