BLOKE

On the 23 RD of September 2011, it’s raining men... A bloke is generally perceived, as a ‘man’s man’; suave, stylish, good looking, confident and successful. He is sensitive as he is strong and he has the ability to make women hang on his every word. While some women fall over themselves to get his attention others are repulsed by this perfect larger than life image. It is from this already controversial standpoint that BLOKE builds its platform; a synergy of gender and relationship issues from a man’s mind. BLOKE MAGAZINE simply is ‘the Complete Man manual’; an intense and totally cosmopolitan magazine with a strong bias for relationship, sex, gender issues and of course, fashion; BLOKE provides a complete lifestyle directory dripping with rich masculine tenor and served with an unmistakeable feminine appeal. Drawn from the perspective of the quintessential man, BLOKE brings to the reader a thoroughly entertaining, yet highly enlightening package, laced with witty humour and light-hearted sexual banter. The single, married, student and professional woman between the ages of 21 – 45, will find a valuable companion in BLOKE.
IT’S EDGE It’s a new and fresh perspective to all the millions of questions women want to ask the men in their lives. Many magazines have generally attempted to bridge the gap between men and women as it concerns intimate relations. International blockbusters such as GQ©, Cosmopolitan©, FHM© etc have all been successful in addressing a vast number of gender issues. What none of these publications have been able to do is not just act as umpire in the age long ‘battle of the sexes’, but authoritatively create a pathway through the maze of complexities and uncertainties that have become the hallmark of modern relationships.

 IT’S APPEAL While retaining a flavour that the male folk will embrace as its very own, being that BLOKE is birthed by the male psyche, its designed and packaged to ultimately appeal to the feminine market. Ours is an iconic product brandishing an unmistakable sexual tenor. Building its adroit perspectives from scientific research- medical, psychological and socio-cultural, yet keeping the language simple and engaging, thereby making for a very relaxing read.
The BLOKE personality is witty and smart; borrowing copiously from everyday pun and intelligent humour. BLOKE is also committed to consistently delivering one of the most attractive magazines on the stand, one that readers would be proud of. Like we always say – finally, a BLOKE everywoman can call their own. Editor: Omena Daniels BLOKE is published bi-monthly by AVENUE3 PRESS & PUBLISHING.

Oriental Hotel, Lagos Nigeria.

Official  Partner of Nigeria's Next Super Model 2011 - Season 5.

PROFESSOR MAATHAI PASSES ON.

NAIROBI (AFP) – Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has died of cancer at the age of 71, her family announced Monday.

Tributes flowed in for Maathai, who died on Sunday at a Nairobi hospital while undergoing treatment, lauding her outstanding struggle against environmental degradation.

“It is with great sadness that the family of professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25th September 2011 at the Nairobi hospital after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer,” a statement said.

Achim Steiner, director of the UN Environment Programme, described her as a “force of nature.”

“While others deployed their power and life force to damage, degrade and extract short term profit from the environment, she used hers to stand in their way,” Steiner said in a statement.

Maathai became a key figure in Kenya since founding the Green Belt Movement in 1977, staunchly campaigning for environmental conservation and good governance.

She won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her reafforestation work in Kenya, the first African woman, the first Kenyan and the first environmentalist to receive this honour.

Her organisation has planted some 40 million trees across Africa.

The first woman in east and central Africa to earn a doctorate, Maathai also headed the Kenya Red Cross in the 1970s.

Maathai had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July 2010, her family added, but never made the illness public.

“We must try our best to find something that will give us a little comfort — the kind of comfort she herself would have given us,” said family spokeswoman Vertistine Mbaya.

Aside from her conservation work, Maathai was elected an MP in 2002 and then named the environment assistant minister, a position she held between 2003 and 2005.

“We mourn a global icon who has left an indelible mark in the world of environmental conservation,” said Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in a statement.

For more than a decade from the 1980s, her movement also joined the struggle against the dictatorial regime of Kenya’s former president Daniel Arap Moi, with Maathai repeatedly teargassed and beaten by police.

During that time, she famously campaigned against the construction of a high-rise building in a park in central Nairobi, stopped the grabbing of forest land outside the city and successfully pressed for the release of 51 political prisoners.

Maathai in recent years founded green groups and launched several campaigns against climate change and environmental protection.

MEET HOUSE OF JOLA NEW DESIGN CONSULTANT.

House of Jola, a renowned fashion house in Lagos Nigeria added to its fleet of professionals with the signing of contract with Mrs. Francisca Nwankwo as the new design consultant for House of Jola,fashion network Africa can tell you authoritatively.
Mrs. Nwankwo, a Delta State indigene came back from South Africa after a long stay to join House of Jola.

She will expedite action immediately as the CEO of house of Jola who is also the originator of Nigeria's Next Super Model is preparing to host the World in the forth-coming NIGERIA'S NEXT SUPER MODEL 2011 GRAND FINALE at the prestigious Oriental Hotel Victoria Island Lagos.
Mrs. Nwankwo will play key role in decision making especially in design selection for Davida line.

"we must strive to make Nigeria a Fashion Hub to the rest of the world" this was her word which Fashion Network Africa quoted in our interview with her when asked about her vision for Nigeria's fashion Industry.
Fashion Network Africa wish Mrs. Francisca Nwankwo the best in her new responsibility.

BY JOSEPH ODIKA.

DESIGNER COLLECTION

MODEL SEARCH

Fashion Meets Music - SWAROVSKI CRYSTALIZED

Bryan Okpara (Model) featured in Masterpiece Movie.

The movie which stars talented actress, Ini Edo and hot new heartthrob Bryan Okwara and lovely dance sensation, Ashleigh Clark is being premiered in Uyo for the world.  The movie which was shot in early February has been in post production is finally ready to be revealed to the world. The movie features a stellar cast that includes a retinue of dancers, as well as respected actor Jide Kosoko, Lilian Ikpe, Biola Williams and the late Sam Efe Loco in a spectacular tale that involves drama, suspense, dance and love. The movie was produced by Emem Isong & Ini Edo and directed by Desmond Elliot.
 According to Emem Isong, co-producer of the film, 'We decided to premiere the movie in Uyo as a show of solidarity with the good people of Akwa Ibom because most of the film was shot there and depicts culture from that area. We also received much support while shooting so it will be great for them to see it first. September also happens to be the month Akwa Ibom state was created so I think its very apt for it to be shown during that period.   It is poignant for me to release this film because this is possibly one of the last  films acted by Uncle Sam and he was outstanding in  his performance! The film is infact dedicated to him'.
‘I’ll Take My Chances’ screens in cinemas nationwide in December this year.  

LG Electronics Introduces the Next Generation of 3D TVs – Launches New “LG Cinema 3D TV” in Lagos

Leading consumer electronics giant, LG Electronics has introduced its new Cinema 3D TV which can be best described as a radical departure from the past into the Nigerian market.

The LG Cinema 3D TV is coming on the heels of the brand’s promise to always make available products that suit the consumers’ yearnings and aspirations in technological innovations, stylish designs and value for money spent.

The launch event for the LG Cinema 3D TV is taking place today, Friday June 24 2011 at the Civic Centre in Lagos.

Special guests at the event will include Noble Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka and renowned movie producerKunle Afolayan.

Click back next week for photos from the event and more details on the LG Cinema 3D TV.
Also visit the microsite to find out more – http://www.lg.com/africa_en/cinema3d/

Key Features

• Comfortable Cinema 3D glasses
• Magic motion remote control
• More Comfort for Your Eyes
• Home Dashboard
• Smart share
• Brilliant 3D Pictures

Miss Universe clarifies fraud allegations tarnishing Angola's crown

Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes's reign was questioned Wednesday, after allegations that false documentation was used to help her earn her participation in the prestigious pageant.

The press office of Donald Trump's Miss Universe Organization denied that anyone by the name of Charles Mukano was involved in the alleged forgery of documentation that allowed Leila Lopes to participate and win Miss Angola UK, which would've effectively elevated her to the Miss Universe pageant.

According to Argentine daily Infobae on Tuesday, the organizer of the the pageant that crowned her Miss Angola in her home country, a man by the name of Charles Mukano, apparently falsified the beauty's documentation so that she could participate in the Miss Universe pageant.

The Infobae report went on to say that Mukano helped Lopes reach the Miss Angola UK pageant, in which only Angolan women who live in Great Britain participate, in spite of the fact that Lopes presumably lived in Angola.

The report also said that Mukano allegedly obtained false documentation that said Lopes is a business administration student in Great Britain. Infobae's report also said that in 2009, Mukano was questioned about false documents he obtained after a Cape Verde citizen came close to winning Miss Angola.

The Miss Universe Organization also acknowledged a rumor that Lopes is of Cuban ancestry and speaks Spanish.

So far, Leila Lopes has not responded to the allegations. However, the Miss Universe Organization said in the Thursday email to AOL Latino that, "We also heard the rumor that her parents were from Cuba and [that] she speaks Spanish, which is false." The email went on to say that, "We have never heard of [Charles Mukano]. The national director who ran the Miss Angola pageant is Renato Guttler."


Should Miss Universe strip Leila Lopes of her crown?

Miss Universe | Miss Universe pageant

Leila Lopes - Miss Universe 2011
Sao Paulo on Sunday night hosted the annual Miss Universe pageant, and the 25-year-old Leila Lopes representing her country Angola as Miss Angola, obtained the crown after impressing judges with her striking cream-colored gown and insightful answer to the final question. Lopes is the first winner the pageant has ever selected from her country. She was crowned by last year's winner Ximena Navarrete from Mexico after beating 88 other competitors from around the world.

The Associated Press reports: Lopes deftly handled the interview question that is asked of the remaining top five contestants. She was questioned about what physical trait she would change if she could.

A look at pageant contestants and winners crowned Miss Universe.
Video

Miss Angola Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Thank God I’m very satisfied with the way God created me, and I wouldn’t change a thing,” Lopes said. “I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life.”
The first runner-up was 23-year-old Olesia Stefanko of Ukraine and the second runner-up was Priscila Machado of Brazil. The third was Miss Philippines and the fourth Miss China.
Contestants spent the past three weeks in Sao Paulo, trying to learn samba dance steps, visiting impoverished children and kicking a football around for cameras as the Miss Universe pageant came to Brazil for the first time.
Despite battling against a home-country favorite, Lopes won over the audience, speaking in the shared language of Portuguese. Angola, like Brazil, is a former Portuguese colony.
“She captivated the crowd, and we were all behind her,” said Brazilian Natalie Bursztyn, 20, who was in the crowd inside Credicard Hall, where the event took place. “It was great that the judges also saw what the fans saw and gave her the crown. Her dress was beautiful and she knew exactly what to say when they asked her the question about her looks.”
Lopes has already begun to address her platform and to work toward her country’s needs. Reports Sarah Ann Hughes:
When asked about racism after her victory, Lopes responded, “It’s not normal in the 21st century to think that way.”
Of the charitable deeds she performed as Miss Angola, Lopes said she’s “worked with various social causes.”
“I work with poor kids, I work in the fight against HIV. I work to protect the elderly, and I have to do everything that my country needs.” she said. “I think now as Miss Universe I will be able to do much more.”
An African beauty queen has not been crowned Miss Universe since 1999, when Miss Botswana, Mpule Kwelagobe, took the crown. Lopes’s win will draw attention to the plight of her country, which is battling extreme poverty.
BlogPost reports: Angola was embroiled in a 27-year civil war until 2002, according to the CIA World Factbook. An estimated 300,000 people died during this period, the BBC reports. Others put that figure at closer to half a million or 1 million.
Of the coastal country’s over 18 million people, 38 percent lived in poverty as of 2009. Life expectancy at birth for men is 50 and for women 53, according t the United Nations’ most recent statistics. An estimated 2 percent of the country’s population suffers from HIV or AIDs, according to USAID.
And just a day after Lopes won the crown, Reuters reported that 17 Angolans were sentenced to three months in prison for participating in a pro-democracy rally.
Lopes’s poise in the evening gown portion of the competition and her flattering dress choice helped win over the crowd. She won the fan favorite for the look, and further enchanted the crowd after speaking in Portuguese. As for Lopes’s beauty tips, they’re simple:
Responding to questions, Lopes said that she has never had cosmetic surgery of any kind and that her three tips for beauty were to get a lot of sleep, use sunscreen even when it’s not sunny and to drink lots of water. She said her smile was her best weapon in the competition.

Jason Wu’s Hot Pants Parade

The world knows Jason Wu can whip up the most ladylike party frocks—but who knew the man could pull off a fancy hot pant just as well? 

Wu showed his spring collection above a Chelsea art gallery this afternoon and there were dresses (of course).  They came in neon yellow, hot pink and stiff black silhouettes with peplums, ruffles, beaded collars and feathers.  He did prints—a navy and white floral—as well as parkas.  But it was the hot pants, which popped up in six of his twenty-nine looks, that made us long for summer before the season even ends.  The answer to the question, “Are shorts office/party/nighttime appropriate,” has been increasingly blurred over the past few seasons.  Wu just eliminated the need to even ask.

Michael Owen Flies Helicopter Over Dubai

Posted by Don Casy

The First Group