Tag Archives: Eddie Izzard

Pledge Book opened for Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday

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Today is the Nelson Mandela’s birthday & his legacy to the world: Mandela Day. Happy Birthday from Frost Magazine!

Nelson Mandela is truly one of the most inspirational people and his birthday is the day when anyone can pledge 67mins of time in recognition of his 67 years of service.

Supported by the UN & global stars, the official pledge book website for the Nelson Mandela Foundation is where anyone can join Nelson Mandela’s global movement for good through making their pledge at www.MandelaDayPledge.org that will be compiled into a book & presented to his foundation, after July 18th.

The Mandela Day Pledge Book is already receiving support from the likes of Desmond Tutu, One Direction, Eddie Izzard, Jamie Oliver & Lewis Hamilton, with hundreds more stars set to join them, along with their millions of fans.

One lucky winner and their friend will fly to Johannesburg courtesy of South African Airways to present the book personally.

The Pledge Book is being run by social currency and ethical agency Blue Dot & its business entrepreneur / social activist founder Chris Ward, who was previously Director at Comic Relief & the legacy of the World Cup in South Africa, and has a background of working with major names changing the world, such as Desmond Tutu, The Gates Foundation, Ban Ki-moon & Queen Rania of Jordan.

UNICEF famous faces join campaigners to speak up for children at Rio

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UNICEF famous faces join campaigners calling on government to speak up for children at Rio

Ewan McGregor, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keira Knightley & more get involved

Ewan McGregor, Keira Knightley, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keeley Hawes, Simon Reeve and Martin Bell are just some of the high profile figures who have joined UNICEF UK’s campaign calling on the government to speak up for children at this week’s Rio Earth Summit.

* McGregor, Knightley, Izzard, Hawes and Bell all filmed video messages for UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign.
* On 7th June, broadcaster and UNICEF supporter Simon Reeve joined young UNICEF supporters at a Rio discussion event with environment minister, Caroline Spelman.
* On 12th June Rio Ferdinand tweeted a series of comedy twitpics under the hashtag #Rio4Rio, urging his 2.8 million followers to sign UNICEF UK’s Speak Up petition.
* On 13th June, young campaigners met with Nick Clegg in Whitehall and handed him a list of the thousands of signatories who have signed the petition so far.

Rio Ferdinand, a long term UNICEF supporter, caused a Twitter stir last Tuesday when he tweeted a cryptic twitpic which read “Everyone’s asking ‘What’s happening with Rio?’” alongside a picture of him looking quizzical. Only from his later tweets – which included an image of the footballer wearing a feathered carnival head dress – did it become clear that Ferdinand was tweeting to raise awareness of UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign to ensure children are at the heart of the Rio Earth Summit’s agenda.

UNICEF supporters Keira Knightley, Eddie Izzard, and Keeley Hawes joined UNICEF Ambassadors Ewan McGregor and Martin Bell in recording special video messages stating that they are “speaking up for children at the Rio Earth Summit.”

Rio Ferdinand said:

“Speaking as a Rio, I know life isn’t all carnivals, beaches and playing football. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro global leaders will discuss the future of the planet and we want them to think about the world’s children. That’s why I’m speaking up for children with UNICEF UK and hope that everyone who follows me on Twitter will do the same.”

Simon Reeve said:

”We have to think more long-term and protect our planet for future generations. And so of course we have to get youngsters and children involved, and make them central to the debates and discussions that take place in Rio.”

Eddie Izzard said

“There is a massive opportunity for the UK government to put children at the heart of the Rio Earth summit. Children should be at the top of the summit agenda.”

Sign the Speak Up For Children petition at www.unicef.org.uk/speakup

Non-Gender Bending Fashion {Style}

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Androgyny has always been a popular and recurring trend seen throughout designers work but a trend which is still seemingly slightly taboo, or at the very least not mainstream is cross dressing. When the term cross dressing comes up, immediately thoughts of Eddie Izzard and Boy George somehow appear in our minds. However, a new take on cross dressing is developing and has been doing so for a while but it is not something which is hugely recognised as yet, but it is a useful revolution which is growing throughout men and women alike.

With most retail outlets now stocking both men’s and women’s wear, perhaps it’s time that we took the hint that both genders are equally important not just in general day to day actions but also in our personal wardrobes.

Guys, next time you go into a shop, don’t rush straight through the womenswear sections, slow down and take a look around. There’s certain items you should probably stay well away from… mini skirts and lace blouses are a no go but have a look in the knit wear section or even the denim department. Have you ever tried on a cardigan and thought it didn’t really fit properly or didn’t really do you any favours? Well here’s a possible solution, try on a women’s one, DKNY do some great ones. They are closer fitted and still go to a size which will not leave you feeling like a starched ear wig. The same goes for jeans, granted plenty of them won’t fit nicely, for obvious reasons, but browse the ‘boyfriend fit’ or ‘worker’ jeans sections and you’ll be sure to find something with enough space, Pepe Jeans have an couple of interesting pairs. Shoes prove more of an issue but depending on the shape of your feet, some women’s pumps might even be more comfortable.

Girls, you have the major advantage in this trend. You are pretty much at a no holds barred situation, there’s not many menswear pieces that are out of limits for you, the shoes again are a little more uncomfortable than casual, but everything else is a ‘game on’ situation. It’s extremely easy to work menswear into your daily wardrobe, for starters most garments are now fairly fitted so flatter the female figure as well as the male. And even if you find a t-shirt you love but isn’t fitting you too well, you can always do some simple customising. The simplest is to tie a knot at the waist to squeeze in your waist, mix with rolled up sleeves and you have a good luck, alternatively you could cut the neck open wider and cut a slit in the centre back and tie up so you have a back feature and a nicely fitting top, one of my favourite t-shirt designers is Vivienne Westwood . Jeans are always a good bet, forget boyfriend fit and just steal your  boyfriends, so long as you have an interesting belt to avoid a knickers-on-show situation your always onto a winner.

So the idea is, if you see something you like, try it for size, it might work even if it was not specifically designed for your gender. But, guys and girls the only rule is don’t do head-to-toe opposite sex otherwise you run the risk of looking like a drag queen or drag king, never a good unintentional look.

Stefans TV Picks.

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Monday 14th – Channel 4, 23:15
Once again we dive into the world of Televisual Wonderment, and the week is starting on a high with the brilliant Mr Eddie Izzard. His show Dressed to Kill is a fantastic piece of stand up and even though it’s 12 years since it was recorded in San Francisco, its still holds up against (and in my opinion is still better than) most of the comedy shows today. So sit back and marvel in the seemingly unplanned unrehearsed ramblings about history, space, movies, Italians saying Ciao and his famous Cake or Death routine.

Tuesday 15th – Sky Movies Premier, 23:40
Korea’s movie industry isn’t that well known over here, even with this sad fact, they’re still responsible for some of my favourite films, from the famous like OldBoy to the lesser known, but often recommended by me, I’m A Cyborg, But that’s OK. Their new big movie to hit our shores is The Good, The Bad, The Weird, a funny, action packed Western that spends the majority of its time either in elaborate mass gunfights or marathon length horse chases. The Good, The Bad, The Weird thankfully retains the casts original voices and hasn’t been confined to the dire pile of dubbed movies, however having said this, the subtitles aren’t great and for the likes of me (who sometimes forgets to put his glasses on) it was occasionally hard to read as the words bled into the pale desert landscapes. But even with this it’s still a brilliant movie that you should stay up late for.

Wednesday 16th – Discovery, 18:00
As those who’ve read my articles know, I love movies, even with all their unbelievable acts. I occasionally find myself, while watching an explosion filled, bullet dodging actioner if it is really possible to jump of a high cliff into freezing water and survive, or drive a car through a fire without melting the tyres, and when these questions arise…enter the Mythbusters. Mythbusters is all about two wannabe mad scientists, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, proving or disproving scientific myth and rumour. In this weeks double bill the guys turn their attention to the gory myth of body splitting via a snapped High Tension Cable and in the second episode they study the film Wanted in an attempt to re-create the bullet curving technique. With additional experiments and theorem smashing by the henchmen of the team Grant Imahara (electronics/robotics), Tory Bellici (builder) and Kari Byron (nerd pin up girl) Mythbusters is as humorous as it is fact filled. Loadsa fun to watch.

Thursday 17th – BBC 4, 21:00
Comedy can be a great way to change people’s outlook or highlight political issues in a way that appeals to the masses. Starting in the 60’s an nearly taking over in the 80’s political satire has always been a major comedy genre and in Frost on Satire we see it’s beginnings with programmes like ‘That Was the Week that Was’, interviews with comedians from both the UK and the US about the power of satire and clips showing the greatest satirical TV moments from the last 50 years. Expect some outstanding comedy most likely including the likes of the Cleese, Barker and Corbett sketch ‘Class’ and Ben Elton when he was great!

Friday 18th – ITV1, 18:30
Sorry to all those who are sick of all the red crosses all over the place, who only visit a select few pubs and already hate and despise vuvuzelas with a vengeance but once again England are taking to a South African pitch, this time to play Algeria in the World Cup Live, and so say the annoying football shirt clad loud braying majority (of which I am one) C’MON ENGLAAAANNNND!

Saturday 19th – ITV2, 12:00
After growing up in the 80’s I have many fond memories, some of the most prominent are ones of me and my friends riding our bikes, all pretending to have a little brown wrinkly alien joining us on our adventures. Yes of course, I’m talking about E.T The Extra Terrestrial. If your old enough to remember watching it, then reminisce back to more innocent times while watching a bunch of kids outwit highly trained agents on their BMX’s and if your too young or haven’t seen it….I feel sorry for you, make sure you catch this masterpiece of cinematic storytelling, I just really really hope it isn’t the re-mastered version and those agents are still carrying guns!

Sunday 20th – BBC4, 21:00
I am saddened, the weather is promising a glorious summer, and I am attending no festivals. Glastonbury, Download, Isle of Wight, Reading….all denied to me this year, so I’ll have to be contented with highlights on the telly-box. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Glastonbury this year, Glastonbury at 40 will be sharing the history of the UK’s most famous festival. Narrated by Mark Radcliff, we will be treated to archive footage ranging from muddy hippies to the clean trainer’d Jay-Z and music from a plethora of bands who have played there over the years.