May Day Live with Ms Lauryn Hill

Be the first to take up a table..you can have all the fun you want. The performance is gonna be great. Sure, you  get your money back as you dey go. Make it a date!

For those who have seen the movie 'Undershepherd', here is what you need to know about Pastor L.C

At one point after asking a question during my phone call with Isaiah Washington, there’s a long silence. Did the call drop? Did he hang up? I check in to see if he’s still there. He is, he says, but he was just thinking. “I think as loudly as I talk,” he replies. “My silence is just as intense as what I say.” No kidding. I only get three questions in to Washington before our time runs out, and yet the conversation lasts 25 minutes. The actor and producer can talk, and a response can touch on several things you were going to ask him and many others you weren’t. 

He’s promoting “Blackbird,” a film he helped produce and one touching on a subject that’s played a key part in his career: homosexuality. Washington plays the surprisingly tolerant father of a deeply religious Bible Belt high schooler (Julian Walker) wrestling with his attraction to the same sex. The actor, who was bumped from “Grey’s Anatomy” over an alleged anti-gay slur he made to out co-star T.R. Knight, knows his words can get him into trouble, but loves to talk all the same. Here are some highlights from our chat:

Not just a film: “I think it should be a television series, like ‘The Wonder Years.’ I say that every day. I don’t know if the producers are listening to me. But I don’t think ‘Blackbird’ is a one-off. I don’t think it should be something that people see, say ‘What a great story!’ and then it disappears. I think that men of color should on HBO or Netflix or Amazon right next to all the other shows that are doing well. It has a lot to say.”

Does he still like acting?: “I’m more interested in taking on more producer positions. I’ve been famous long enough. In my mind I’ve been extraordinarily blessed as an actor. I’ve done everything I set out to do. I wanted to prove to the world that Denzel wasn’t the only leading man. I did that on ‘Grey’s.’ I have 62 episodes to show the world that there’s not only one African American man in Hollywood who can be sexy, smart, interesting, likable, unlikable and complex, like a human being. “

His next step: “I want to produce thought-provoking, mind-changing films. I want to bet the guy in ‘The Kid Stays in the Picture.’ If Richard Branson and Robert Evans had a love child it would be me. In my mind, in my ego that’s how I see myself. When people read that they’ll say, ‘That’s the strangest f—ing thing.’ I know! [Laughs]”

Isaiah Washington and Mo'Nique play parents of a very religious teenager struggling to embrace his homosexuality in "Blackbird."

Photo:

RLJ Entertainment/Urban Movie Channel

Films about ideas: “When you go see a Spike Lee film you know you’re going to be arguing after you’ve left the theater. You’re not going to agree. I think a lot of us in our community have lost sight of what Martin Luther King has given us, which is the ability to acknowledge our critical thinking and critique the public discourse. We’re in a state now where if someone doesn’t agree with you, they have to tar and feather you. [Laughs] You have to die! If you want to hurt me, I’m at Venice Beach. I’m not hard to find. I’m there every day. I’m the most approachable person in the world. The tough talk is just that.”

Spike Lee changed his life: ‘When I saw ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ I was lost. In 1986, I didn’t know where to turn, didn’t know what to do. But I saw ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ I looked on that screen and saw those people — I saw Joie Lee, I saw John Canada Terrell, I saw those beautiful people in black and white. I said, “That’s what I want to do!” I screamed it in the theater. [Laughs] A friend of mine sitting next to me was like, “Oh my god…” I said I was going to work with this man. I didn’t know how long it would take, even if it was in the next 10 years. [Ed. Washington had roles in three Lee films: “Clockers,” “Girl 6” and “Get on the Bus,” in which he played one of the film’s two openly gay characters.] This is what I want to do — to make people of color look beautiful. I want them to be smart, I want them to be intelligent. I’ve achieved that goal. Now I want to help others achieve it

2015/16 NITDA Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme for Nigerians

The National Information Technology
Development Agency (NITDA), with its mandate
of transforming Nigeria into an IT driven
economy for global competitiveness and the dire
need to bridge the digital divide, has since 2010
established a Scholarship Scheme for Masters
(MSc) and Doctorate (PhD) Degrees in relevant
areas of Information Technology (IT) obtainable
in Nigeria or Foreign / Overseas Universities.
Selection Criteria
The scholarship award is strictly based on merit
and is equally distributed between the six geo-
political zones for PhD and the 36 States and
FCT for MSc.
Duration:
The Masters programme will run for one year
while the Doctorate programme is expected to
run for three years.
Eligibility:
PhD: University Lecturers with
MSc in any Information
Technology related field are
eligible to apply for sponsorship.
MSc: All citizens of Nigeria with
First Class or Second Class
(Upper) Honours Bachelors
degree, (BSc) in Information
Technology related field. The
registration period is six (6) weeks
from the date of this publication.
A comprehensive Aptitude Test
will be conducted to determine
successful candidates for the
Award. Only candidates who are
found eligible will be invited.

Click here to apply

2015 Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop

Farafina Trust will be holding a creative writing workshop in Lagos, organized by award-winning writer and creative director of Farafina Trust, Chimamanda Adichie, from June 16 to June 26, 2015. The workshop is sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc. Guest writers who will co-teach the workshop alongside Adichie are the Caine Prize Winning Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, National Librarian of Norway Aslak Sira Myhre, and others.

The workshop will take the form of a class. Participants will be assigned a wide range of reading exercises, as well as daily writing exercises. The aim of the workshop is to improve the craft of Nigerian writers and to encourage published and unpublished writers by bringing different perspectives to the art of storytelling.

Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship

Last updated: 30 Mar 2015 | OPENS 15 APRIL 2015

Stanford Graduate School of BusinessMBA Degree

Deadline: 15 Jun 2015 (Annual)
Study in:  USA
Course starts Fall 2016

Brief description:

The Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship Program are for citizens of African countries with financial need who wish to obtain an MBA at Stanford GSB.

Host Institution(s):

Stanford Graduate School of Business, USA

Field of study:

Masters in Business Administration (MBA)

Number of Awards:

Up to 8

Target group:

Citizens of African countries

Scholarship value/inclusions:

The fellowship covers the tuition and associated fees (approximately US $140,000).

School Enterprise Challenge for Students 2015 – $50,000 in Cash Prizes

Registration is now open for the 2015 School
Enterprise Challenge, a student-led, business
start-up competition for schools around the
world. The School Enterprise Challenge helps
students develop skills they need to succeed in
work and in life. The competition is designed to
help young people to become socially
responsible entrepreneurs, who seek not just to
make a profit, but also think about their planet
and the people around them.

International Association For Intelligence Education 2015 Essay Competition

International Association For Intelligence
Education invites entries for its 2015 essay
competition. This competition promotes IAFIE’s
goal of providing a forum for the creation of
knowledge and the dissemination and exchange
of ideas and information for those interested in
and concerned with intelligence education.

Blame game won’t solve xenophobia in SA

I often observe events as they unfold before airing my thoughts and position, particularly on sensitive and complex issues.

Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko says it is not necessary to deploy the army to deal with xenophobic violence, adding that it’s important to fight off xenophobic attitudes in society.

This approach has its own flaws, but it works for me sometimes, especially when you are avoiding exposing your lunacy so often. What works for me does not always work for others. This is how complex and diverse we are as humans.

Widespread reaction to xenophobic scenes (some call it Afrophobia which is not quite the reality I suppose) in South Africa (SA) provoked me to respond after some days as an observer and also listening too.

Vatican's take on US Nuns

Pope Francis met with members of the LCWR on Thursday

The Vatican has ended its controversial control of the main organisation representing US nuns.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious was under close supervision from Rome after being accused of undermining Catholic teaching.

The Vatican said the group's focus was now Christ and faithful teaching.

The sisters were accused of promoting "radical feminist themes", but they argued that they were simply trying to do their work with the poor.

Latest on the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment

Wikileaks has published hundreds of thousands of emails and documents from a cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment last year.

The archive apparently includes Sony conversations with Downing Street and with Hollywood figures.

In November, the entertainment company suffered a cyber-attack weeks before releasing The Interview, a film criticised by the North Korean regime.

Sony said it "strongly condemns" the Wikileaks release.

ECOWAS 40th Anniversary Youth Essay Competition

The Commission of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) is celebrating 40
years of Integration and cooperation in West
Africa, which has led to the establishment of an
economic union to foster economic growth, raise
the standard of living of its citizens and creation
of better relations among Member States. The
Commission intends to mark this genuine event
through a Youth Essay Competition.
The best two Essays per country in all the
member States will be published as a Book. The three winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) will be selected
among the total of 30 Essays. The Essays are
aimed at a broad audience and should therefore
be written in a non-technical style.
The General theme of the Book around which all
the Essays should be crafted is: Relevance and
Challenges of Regional Integration in West Africa:
The role of the ECOWAS Community, Citizens,
Member State Governments and Institutions in
enhancing this relevance and in Meeting the
challenges.

Kim Kardashian Uses A $45 Bar Of Soap On Her Face?

Ever wonder how Kim K gets that super smooth skin of hers? The secret’s out: she spilled that her fave method of cleansing is to use a nice and natural bar of soap. You can shop the exact soap that Kim uses for $45 here!

Kim Kardashian, 34, has to be drowning in skincare gifts, but she managed to narrow down her arsenal of products to one unbeatable face wash: a bar of soap! Read on to get all the details about the luxe cleanser that Kim can’t live without.

Internship Opportunity

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is the world’s 2nd largest professional services network with a network of firms in 157 countries and 195,400 people.

In line with attracting the best, brightest and most suitable talent to PwC Advisory, PwC will commence the PwC Advisory Annual Internship Program with a pilot in July this year.
The Program will run - for (10) weeks - between July and September. The intent is to get a cohort with a mix of persons across the following categories:

How to install two or more operating systems on one PC

 

I thought I might borrow Lincoln Spector's brain to enlighten us a little on how we "might" install and run more than one OS in one computer. Now I used "might" because I am not going to give more than what Lincoln Spector of the PC World has written and so I cannot guarantee your success since I do not know if following instructions is your strong suit...

This tutorial is necessary especially when you consider how vulnerable windows operating system is and so you might want to learn a thing or two for it just might be what will save you from loosing that important project or document.

Adobe Youth Voices Awards 2015

Deadline: April 20, 2015

The Adobe Youth Voices Awards is a global, online competition that encourages youth to creatively express their vision for driving positive change in local communities. The aim of this award is to ignite creative confidence in youth around the world by empowering them to find their voice and make it heard.

Categories

Adobe Youth Awards accept media in the following categories:

1. Documentary
2. Narrative,
3. Animation,
4. Visual,
5. Venture.