Supermodel Cara Delevingne, who shares her August 12th birthday with our editor, Catherine Balavage, celebrated her birthday in style, on a boat in Ibiza with Suki Waterhouse and newly married sister Poppy.
Cara posted the above picture of her 22nd birthday via her Instagram. She wrote: I could not be happier!!!!! Ahhhhhh we are going to…… Wonderland! 22 here we come x @sophiaaekerrison @scillywilly @sukiwaterhouse @clarapaget
Do you think Cara looks like fun?
Justin, actually getting along with someone.
The internet is abuzz with the news that Orlando Bloom threw a punch at Justin Bieber after he made a slight against Miranda Kerr, and now we have sourced the video.
The altercation happened on Wednesday at Cipriani in Ibiza and it seems the punch was blocked by one of Bieber’s guards.
What do you think?
I was very upset to hear about the death of Felix Dennis. He was always kind and open with me and even sent me a book of his poetry once, with a rather lovely personal note attached too. I was devastated when tea was spilt on the book but (hope) I still have his personal note somewhere. 
Felix Dennis was a great man. He built up a publishing business that is one of the most successful in the country and made an insane amount of money. Hundreds of millions of pounds, but stayed true to himself. He has left £500 million to his forest, proving his social conscious to the end. He had spent the past decade planting it.
Felix died yesterday at the age of 67 after a two-year battle with throat cancer. He was surrounded by loved ones at the time.
He led a very interesting life which included a jail term for “conspiring to corrupt public morals” during the famous 1971 Oz trial and overcame a crack addiction.
Yesterday was a sad day for the publishing industry and I wish his family all the best.
Eden Shorts: Nature Filmmaker of the Year
Eden, Britain’s leading natural history channel today announced a brand new nationwide and first-ever amateur nature filmmaking competition, Eden Shorts.
The aim of the competition is to inspire budding filmmakers to produce one-minute short films, which capture the natural world in all its beauty and wonder. It opens on the 7th July and closes on 27th September 2014. Entrants can find information on how to enter at edentv.co.uk/shorts.
The winners will have their work showcased on-air on Eden, as well as some other prizes on offer for one overall winner. These will be picked by an expert judging panel, including wildlife enthusiast and TV presenter, Michaela Strachan.
Michaela commented; “’I think Eden Shorts is a fantastic idea and an amazing opportunity for amateur wildlife filmmakers to be creative and show their work. To get the opportunity to showcase your talent on the channel is such an incredible opportunity, it’s like the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ of the wildlife film making world. The criteria is very open so it’ll be really interesting to see what people come up with. It’s a tough world to get into and this could give untapped talent a perfect platform to show off!’
Filmmaking technology is now far more accessible, making it easier for passionate individuals to obtain beautiful moving images of the natural world. Sir David Attenborough believes that the future of natural history communication mostly rests with dedicated amateurs who will film wildlife around them, he was quoted recently saying people will capture “the mating of a dragonfly on a pond which may be 100 yards from their home and put that on the web.”
Emma Boston, General Manager of Eden, added; “Eden Shorts is looking for high quality amateur films, which showcase the wonder of the natural world. This could consist of a time-lapse of a flower opening or the setting sun, a piece to camera about nature or local wildlife projects, a classic wildlife film of a favourite animal or even an animation.
More than anything the competition asks entrants to be creative! Eden Shorts is looking for live-action footage of nature, presenters talking to camera, animations, an interview or any other means that help to convey the film’s message.”
Eden celebrates the wonder of nature, and features the very best wildlife, science and adventure programming. The channel shows the best of the BBC’s Natural History Unit with Sir David Attenborough, and science programming with Professor Brian Cox, as well as UK premiere acquisitions that explore the world around us and some spectacular adventure and travel programmes.
Instructions on how to enter
To enter the competition, each entrant must upload a Short Film lasting no more than 1 minute to their personal YouTube account. Entrants must then submit the relevant URL for their Short Film together with their personal email address via the Competition entry form application located on the Eden website at eden.uktv.co.uk.
A lot has been said about the video of Bowe Bergdahl’s father praising Allah at the White House. Frankly, most of it is wrong. Obama was not smiling. Anyone who knows body language and looks at the video will see that, actually, that was a grimace. President was also obviously angry, he knew how much political damage had just been done to him. I don’t know who is advising Obama at the moment, or why he let five terrorists go for one man but whoever is advising him needs to either be fired or given the worst job in politics somewhere far away from the President to make a strong point. American Ambassador of Outer Mongolia or Siberia sounds good.
I don’t know if Obama knew what the Arabic meant at the time, but he knew it was enough to damage him in the eyes of his enemies, most of whom constantly try to make the President out as not a true American.
Robert Bergdahl said at the press conference of his son’s release, “Bism allah alrahman alraheem,” which translates from Arabic to English as “in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.” It is said before every chapter in the Koran except the 9th (the chapter of the sword). The level of stupidity in quoting the Koran at the White House, even more than ten years after 9/11 is insurmountable. Not to mention insensitive. He may have meant it in a well-meaning way, but it was not that he spoke in Arabic, it was the praise of Allah, the same Allah whose name the pilots flew into the World Trade Centre for. The beard didn’t help. Robert Bergdahl grew it out of ‘solidarity’ for his captured son but we live in a visual world. How things look matter, and it looks bad.
Bowe Bergdahl allegedly left a note saying he wanted to renounce his citizenship before he went AWOL. Then six American soldiers lost their lives trying to rescue him from the Taliban. This is the biggest crisis of Obama’s career and the shades of Homeland (incidentally one of the President’s favourite shows) does not help. The President did not know what Robert Bergdahl was going to say, and he clearly didn’t like what he did say. No man left behind is very American. Even if the man is controversial and not liked within the armed forces because of his desertion.
To rub salt into the wound, the Taliban have released a video of the release of Bowe Bergdahl. Despite all of this, I believe the President can still recover. He just needs to surround himself with the right people.
What do you think?
Release Date: 4th August 2014
Format: Digital Download
Jubilee Courts are Josh (21), Matt (21) and Harry (19) who were brought together in 2011 by a mutual dissatisfaction with the current music scene and a motivation to do something different. Gigging throughout their hometown of Northampton in late 2012 to early 2013, the buzz around the band grew and Frank (18) joined as their drummer. With two members now based in London, Jubilee Courts’ music reflects their changing surroundings and eclectic influences.
The band quote My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Bauhaus and Joy Division as musical inspirations. Lyrical influences come from the literary works of T S Elliott and Delmore Schwartz.
The single ‘Room with a View’, released on Stalkers Records in December 2013, was mixed by James Bagshaw, singer of Temples. A further seal of approval from the Temples frontman came in the form of his percussion performance on the track. Their debut EP ‘Go From the Blue Light into the Moonlight’ was written in mid-2013. The piece is a minimalistic portrayal of where the band began, a reflection of them growing up in the provincial midlands with some tracks representing the routine and monotony whilst others offer a contrast through undertones of romanticism and the avant-garde.
Social Links:
Tour Dates:
Saturday 2nd August – Roadmender, Northam
There is no hesitation in saying that superstar Rihanna puts the RI in riskay, with her choices in fashion. She knows how to turn heads and be the only name on people lips at any occasion, and the CFDA awards were no different. Little is left to the imagination when the singer attended the awards that celebrate fashion ironically wearing practically nothing! The daring Adam Selman sheer dress that took instagram by surprise is confidently wore by Riri showing off a whole lot of her femininity. The fitted Swarovski crystal covered floor length dress spread across social media as the world is faced with Riri’s nipples drawing all attention, however the singer modestly tries to cover herself up with her fur accessory and not forgetting the sparkling turban to draw attention to her face.
Vogue tweeted “Rihanna doesn’t follow fashion she affects it!!”, There is no argument in honouring her with Style Icon at the event as she leads the way in the fashion industry taking every risk and taboo on the journey! She dares to do the the undareable and it is undeniable that she does it greatly, stiring up a storm whilst doing so!
Her best accessory of the night is her confidence and she has really embraced it to the fullest!
Gwyneth Paltrow got a lot of criticism for saying that reading mean tweets about herself was like ‘war’, but the best response comes from Green Beret and Purple Heart recipient Bryan Sikes on Clash Daily. Read on and tell us what you think.
This is what Paltrow said: “You come across (online comments) about yourself and about your friends, and it’s a very dehumanizing thing, It’s almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing … My hope is, as we get out of it, we’ll reach the next level of conscience.”
To Miss Paltrow,
I’d first like to start out by saying how terrible I feel for you and all your friends that on a daily basis have to endure mean words written by people you don’t know. I can only imagine the difficulty of waking up in a 12,000 square foot Hollywood home and having your assistant retrieve your iPhone, only to see that the battery is low and someone on twitter (the social media concept that you and all of your friends contribute to on an hourly basis to feed your ego and narcissistic ways), has written a mean word or 2 about you. You’ve hit the nail on the head, war is exactly like that. You should receive a medal for the burden you have carried on your shoulders due to these meanies on social media.
You said, “Its almost like, how in war, you go through this bloody dehumanizing thing and then something is defined out of it.” I could see how you, and others like you in “the biz”, could be so insecure and mentally weak that you could pair the difficulty of your life on twitter to my brothers who have had their limbs ripped off and seen their friends shot, blown up, burned and disfigured, or wake up every morning in pain – while just starting the day is a challenge. How about our wives? The ones that sign on to be there for us through thick and thin, that help us to shake the hardships of war upon our return? And do all this while being mothers to our kids, keeping bills in order because we are always gone, and keeping our lives glued together. They do all this, by the way, without a team of accountants, nanny’s, personal assistants, and life coaches. Yeah, reading a mean tweet is just like all that.
You know what is really “dehumanizing”, Miss Paltrow? The fact that you’d even consider that your life as an “A-list” celebrity reading internet comments could even compare to war and what is endured on the battlefield. You and the other “A-listers” that think like you are laughable. You all have actually convinced yourselves that you in some way face difficulty on a regular basis. Let me be the first to burst your bubble: a long line at Starbucks, your driver being 3 minutes late, a scuff mark on your $1200 shoes and a mean tweet do not constitute difficulty in the eyes of a soldier.
Understand me when I say this: war does not define me. It is a chapter in my life that helped shaped me. Being a husband and father is what defines me. Remember, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never…be close to what war is.
Cindy McCain, wife of decorated war veteran, Senator John McCain also tweeted:
Gweneth Paltrow is a joke. Her life is like taking bullets for a soldier. What a joke! My 2 sons serving in the military should talk to her.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 29, 2014
Perhaps Gweneth Paltrow should go out on patrol with some soldiers. Kind of like a Red Carpet in her mind I guess!
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 29, 2014