29 August 2014

Danger! Falls, Snake Bites & Gun Shots

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It was a packed week for the entertainment world with both the MTV Video Music Awards and the Emmy's taking place but it wasn't all plain sailing with danger claiming a few celeb's along the way.

MTV VMA's


Before the big event began there was drama when one of Nikki Manaj's dancers was bitten by a snake during rehearsals but it didn't stop there with Suge Knight being shot 6 times at Chris Brown's pre-VMA party and Iggy Azalea managing to fall off stage while performing Fancy at a pre-VMA event.

The red carpet had Katy Perry in denim and Taylor Swift in a onesie while Amber Rose left little to the imagination and many more. But it was business as usual with the ladies kicking the the show off with performances by Ariana Grande, Jesse J and Nicki Minaj who suffered an unfortunate near wardrobe malfunction. The show carried on with Taylor Swift performing her new song "Shake it Off" along with Sam Smith performing "Stay With Me" and Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora performing "Black Widow".

Awards went out to Drake for Best Hip-Hop Award along with many others but the evening came to an end with Beyonce performing songs off her new album for 20 minutes before being given the Vanguard award by her husband, Jay Z, and their daughter, Blue Ivy.

Emmy's


The 2014 Emmy's began with all eye's on the red carpet as celebrities strutted their stuff for the world to see. Stoned Sarah Silverman enjoyed herself maybe a little too much revealing her weed vape pen while Lena Dunham, Sarah Paulson and Mayim Bialik opted for over-the-top dresses and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting went for Monique Lhuillier and the OITNB cast broke out of prison clothes for the evening. Behind the scenes of Anna Chlumsky, Kiernan Shipka, and Sofia Vergara getting ready for the show showed what it takes to get ready for such an event.

The ceremony kicked off with host Seth Meyers followed by Amy Poehler presenting the first award for "Best Onscreen Orgasm in a Civil War Reenactment" setting the tone for a fun filled night along with Weird Al performing a series of alternative TV openings. Awards went to Stephen Colbert for "Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series" which was hijacked by Jimmy Fallon, along with awards to The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Breaking Bad and many more. There was a special moment for Robin Williams presented by friend Billy Crystal.

Other News


The Reading Festival 2014 ended this week after featuring performances by Arctic Monkeys, Blink 182 , Queens of the Stone Age and Paramore who suffered a technical setback before getting started.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge continued with Eminem and Rhinna and even Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio joining the throngs of celebrities getting doused for a good cause. Some celeb's avoided the bucket and instead donated with Tina Fey's daughter standing in for her and Captain America's Winter Solider and Falcon doing it in costume.

And finally actor, director and producer Richard Attenborough passed away at the age of 90.

22 August 2014

Ferguson & Foley, Stories Bigger than the Individual Tragedies

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Human tragedy has plagued the news recently with individuals suffering horrific atrocities and in the process bringing attention to even bigger problems.

Ferguson, Missouri


Protests have been raging in Ferguson, Missouri since early August when a young black man, Michael Brown, was shot by a white police officer. An autopsy, one of many to be carried out, would later reveal that Michael had been shot 6 times including 2 to the head.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets on protestors in what would be the start of endless protests against police brutality. As time passed and anger grew police resorted to smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse crowds. Police even arrested and detained journalists exacerbating the situation as news agencies called into question the police response.

Days into the protest thousands gathered across the US for a moment of silence for victims of police brutality. President Obama called for calm as State Troopers took over security with the commander of the State Troopers joining protesters as they marched in hopes of avoiding more unrest.

However progress was short lived after the disclosure by the officer responsible for the shooting and accusations that Micheal had been involved in an earlier store robbery. As the situation deteriorated once again police began imposing curfews and fired smoke canisters and tear gas into the crowds.

With growing unrest Missouri has called in the National Guard to help and used armoured vehicles to disperse crowds while President Obama has sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson as protests continue.


James Foley


American journalist James Foley was executed on camera by ISIS militants in retaliation for US airstrikes in Iraq. The execution is believed to have been carried out by a British citizen according to British Prime Minister David Cameron. James was abducted on 22 November 2012 and held captive until the video of his execution. The US government has admitted there had been a failed rescue attempt earlier in the year.

ISIS have since threatened to kill another journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, who was briefly shown at the end of the video with an ISIS member stating "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision"

15 August 2014

Who's in the news? Robin Williams

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The world lost a great entertainer and all round good guy this week when news broke that Robin Williams had passed away at home in Tiburon, California.

Career


Robin Williams was a comedy genius with a body of work as diverse as his talent. Since his death the world has learnt what a truly wonderful man he was with many of his close friends, fellow celebrities and co-stars all saying the same thing, he was as good a man off screen as he was on. Even US President Obama took time to say kind words of a man who touched so many.

Robin's characters have made him an icon from his start in TV's Mork and Mindy to staring roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Hook, Aladdin, Happy Feet, Good Will Hunting where he won his Oscar and many more.

Personal Life


Robin Williams death by suicide comes after a history of substance abuse and depression visiting rehab numerous times to fight his demons. It also came to light after his death that Robin was suffering the early symptoms of Parkinson's disease at the time of his death, much to the dismay of close friend and fellow celebrity suffering from Parkinson's Michael J. Fox.

Married 3 times with 3 kids, Robin had 1 child with first wife Valerie Velardi and 2 with his second wife Marsha Garces Williams and non with his third wife Susan Schneider. His 3 children, Zak, Zelda and Cody took to social media this week to express there thoughts and gratitude to all those sharing in their grief. Family was important to Robin with some of his last words speaking volumes for his love of his family.

Impact


Robin did a lot not only professionally but also personally from hosting Comedy Relief to helping raise funds for food banks and visiting the troops overseas to bring some laughter in a difficult situation. Robin Williams impact on the world has been felt this week as the world suffers the loss of true gentle, loving man.


8 August 2014

Need to Know - #Ebola

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The largest outbreak of Ebola has been gaining speed spreading beyond it's usual West African confines with over 1300 cases of Ebola to date.

Outbreak Reach


Original reports of the outbreak came from Guinea spreading to neighbouring countries Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Since the outbreak infected foreign nationals have been pulled out of the infected areas for treatment in their respective countries with an infected Spanish priest flown to Madrid for treatment along with 2 infected American doctors flown back to the US for treatment.

There were a few scares when Mount Sinai Hospital in New York isolated a patient displaying similar symptoms but has since been declared non Ebola related. Another scare came from Gatwick airport in the UK where a women collapsed and died after a flight from West Africa but this too has been cleared as non Ebola related.

Symptoms


Ebola is one of those nightmare inducing viruses with the infected often bleed from various orifices and normally has a 90% fatality rate, however, it is not airborne and requires contact with bodily fluids of the infected. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function along with internal and external bleeding. It can take anywhere from 2 to 21 days for the infected to show symptoms.

International Response


There are rumours of a new serum been used on 1 of the 2 American doctors infected to fight the virus, however, they are the first human's to try the cure as it was previously only tested on monkeys. The FDA has also given the green light to test an Ebola vaccine while the US has sent more health experts to help combat the outbreak.

Besides the quarantine of the infected various organizations have got involved with the World Bank launching an Ebola fund for emergency assistance. As the outbreak continues to spread non affected countries have tried to limit the possibilities of further spread with the US ordering Diplomats and their families to leave Liberia after Liberian President declared Ebola an emergency

1 August 2014

Superheroes & Celebrity Feuds

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This week we have highlights from Comic Con with the latest Movies and TV series lined up and some celebrities not getting along.

Comic Con


Comic Con took place with celebrities promoting their upcoming movies from the cast of The Avengers: Age of Ultron to the cast of Sin City with Jessica Alba. There were also plenty of sneak peaks and trailers with the next installment of The Hobbit and the much anticipated Batman vs Superman.

TV shows took to the stage with the members of True blood talking about the shows final season. Comic Con also revealed the death of a beloved character on The Simpsons with a trailer showing Homer at deaths door. The Orphan Black cast discussed the new clone while Stephen Amell from Arrow gave the fans what they wanted. The trailer for the new Constantine series was unveiled along with discussion with the cast of Penny Dreadful.

In other Comic Con news things went awry when a women was injured during the Zombie March when the occupants of the car, a deaf family, panicked and drove through the crowd.

Celebrity Gossip


Later in the week things deteriorated when Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber got into a fight over Orlando's ex, Miranda Kerr, with Justin making snide comments resulting in Orlando throwing a punch. Freddie Prinze Jr. shared choice words about his former 24 co-star Kiefer Sutherland claiming Kiefer nearly made him quit acting.

And finally we end the week on a high with Birthday's celebrated this week including Sandra Bullock celebrating her 50th and Mick Jagger celebrating his 71st in New York.