Introducing Nigeria's hottest softsell magazine. Encomium Magazine

Encomium Magazine is one of the most read softsell mags in Nigeria. They do fashion, style, beauty, politics, news, gossip etc. This is one mag I buy every week, some of my Naija gists and gossip come from the mag. I guess you can call it the 'Hello' of Nigeria. They recently celebrated their Ten years in Business...
They have a variety of the Mag...the Encomium Weekly, Encomium Special, Encomium Annual, Encomium Lifestyle. Check out some of their mag covers...

To read more entertainment news and gossip, fashion and style, health and fitness and events happenings in Naija, visit www.encomiummagazine.com.

Miss Galaxy West Africa Pageant in Pictures

For more pix from the pageant, go to purefoto.com.

Riddles, True or False, Did you know, Facts on Sports + Man chops off his genitals

I haven't done some of this stuff before on my blog, thought it might be kind of fun. Below are some riddles, see if you can answer any of them.

Riddles

1. John is standing behind Mary, and Mary is standing behind John. How is this possible?

2. How would you rearrange the letters in the words "New Door" to make one word?

3. What runs all around the yard without moving?

4. What is it that someone else has to take before you can get it?

5. When asked how old she was, Suzie replied, "In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago."How old is she now?

6. How would you rearrange the letters in the words "New Door" to make one word?

7. There is a town where a quarter of all the people living have unlisted phone numbers. If you select 100 names at random from the town's phone book, on average how many of these people would have unlisted phone numbers?

8. Where is the only place that yesterday always follow today?

9. The maker doesn't want it, the buyer doesn't use it and the user doesn't see it. What is it?

10. What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don't want to use it?

11. What is broken when you name it?

12. What is one thing that all wise men, regardless of their politics or religion, agree is between heaven and earth?

13. What is often returned but never borrowed?

14. What keys can't you put in a lock?

15. If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?

Were you able to answer any? Send your answer as a comment. I'll post the answers to the riddles in a couple of days...

...Below also are some true or false questions. See if you can do justice to any of them...goodluck...

True or False?
1. Chocolate is toxic to dogs and can kill them.
a)True
b)False

2. The worm in a bottle of Mexican tequila is an aphrodisiac or hallucinogen.
a) True
b) False

3. If you sit too close to the TV, you will ruin your eyes.
a) True
b) False

4. Eating turkey makes you sleepy.
a) True
b) False

5. The Chevy Nova did not sell well in Mexico because its name translates as "doesn't go" in Spanish.
a) True
b) False

6. Eating poppy seeds can cause you to fail a drug test.
a) True
b) False)

7. The phrase "son of a gun" originated during the Civil War when a woman was struck by a bullet that had passed through the scrotum of a soldier. The sperm on the bullet penetrated her ovaries and impregnated her.
a) True
b) False

8. Drinking alcohol — brandy, for example — will warm you up when out in cold weather.
a) True
b) False

9. A computer keyboard harbors more germs than a toilet seat.
a) True
b) False

10. The modern-day image of Santa Claus — a chubby, bearded man in a red-and-white suit — was created by the Coca-Cola Company.
a) True
b) False

Answers also coming later...

...Some interesting stories you might never have heard...

Did you know?

The origin of April Fool

It is widely proclaimed that April Fool's day originated in France in 1562, or thereabouts, when Pope Gregory replaced the Julian calender with the Gregorian calender in the Julian calender month of April. The day of introduction of the Gregorian calender was made the first day of January. Some people hadn't heard about the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate the New Year's Day, but it being 1st April. So, others called them "April fools." The fact is that Pope Gregory XIII ordered Thursday 4 October 1582 to be the last day of the Julian calendar. The next day was Friday 15 October. April Fool's Day is an April Fool's tale. The April Fool's Day tradition in France includes poisson d'avril ("April's fish"), attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed.

Absolutely nothing happened between 3 and 13 September 1752
In September 1752 the Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar in Great Britain and its American colonies. The Julian calendar was 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so 14 September got to follow 2 September on the day of the change. The result was that between 3 and 13 September, absolutely nothing happened!
The calendar switch also influenced the way George Washington's birthday is celebrated. He was born on 11 February 1731, but the anniversary of his birth is on 22 February because of the 11 days eliminated from the calendar switch. At the same time, New Year's Day was changed from 25 March to 1 January, thus according to the new calendar, Washington was born in 1732.

One of the seven wonders of the world still exists

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still survives.
The other six are:
1) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II.
2) The gigantic gold statue of Zeus was built by the sculptor Pheidias at Olympia.
3) The temple of Artemis was erected in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature.
4) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a huge tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria.
5) The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue erected by the Greeks in honour of Helios the sun-god.
6) The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built near the ancient city of Memphis for Pharaoh Khufu in the period of the Fourth Dynasty, between 2613 and 2494BC. The Greeks refered to it as the Pyramid of Cheops. It covers a ground area of 13.1 acres (32,4 hectares), composed of some 2.3 million limestone blocks average two-and-a-half tonnes each, enough stone to build a wall of foot-square cubes two-thirds around the globe at the equator, a distance of 16,600 miles (26 500km).

Also...Facts on Sports

Fishing is the biggest participant sports in the world.

Football (soccer) is the most attended or watched sport in the world.

Boxing became a legal sport in 1901.

More than 100 million people hold hunting licences.

Jean Genevieve Garnerin was the first female parachutists, jumping from a hot air balloon in 1799.

In 1975 Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the top of Everest.

The record for the most Olympic medals ever won is held by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina. Competing in three Olympics, between 1956 and 1964, she won 18 medals.

The record for the most major league baseball career innings is held by Cy Young, with 7,356 innings.

The first instance of global electronic communications took place in 1871 when news of the Derby winner was telegraphed from London to Calcutta in under 5 minutes.

In 1898, one of the first programmes to be broadcasted on radio was a yacht race that took place in British waters.

Sports command the biggest television audiences, led by the summer Olympics, World Cup Football and Formula One racing.

Gymnasiums were introduced in 900BC and Greek athletes practised in the nude to the accompaniment of music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.

The very first Olympic race, held in 776 BC, was won by Corubus, a chef.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. There were 311 male but no female competitors.

In his time, Michael Schumacher was the highest paid sportsman, ahead of Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. (Not including sponsorship endorsements.)

The high jump method of jumping head first and landing on the back is called the Fosbury Flop.

Korfball is the only sport played with mixed teams, consisting of 4 men and 4 women.

The Major League Baseball teams use about 850,000 balls per season.

About 42,000 tennis balls are used in the plus-minus 650 matches in the Wimbledon Championship.

A baseball ball has exactly 108 stitches, a cricket ball has between 65 and 70 stiches.

A soccer ball is made up of 32 leather panels, held together by 642 stitches.
Basketball and rugby balls are made from synthetic material. Earlier, pigs' bladders were used as rugby balls.

The baseball home plate is 17 inches wide.

Golf the only sport played on the moon - on 6 February 1971 Alan Shepard hit a golf ball.

The oldest continuous trophy in sports is the America's Cup. It started in 1851, with Americans winning for a straight 132 years until Australia took the Cup in 1983.

Volleyball was invented by William George Morgan of Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1895.

A badminton shuttle easily travels 180 km/h (112 mph).
Ferenc Szisz from Romania, driving a Renault, won the first Formula One Grand Prix held at Le Mans, France in 1906.

It's a bizarre world we live in. Read the story of how a man cut off his genitals...

Man cuts off his genitals

A POLISH MAN burst into a busy central London restaurant and chopped off his own penis with a knife in front of horrified diners, police have reported.The man, a 35-year-old Polish national, ran into Zizzi, in the Strand, and promptly committed the surprising act."This guy came running in then charged into the kitchen, got a massive knife and started waving it about," a diner who was eating at the restaurant with his girlfriend said. Apparently, the man was dissatisfied that since he came to England he was unable to get a Polish girlfriend, who all seem to be going with black men."Everyone was screaming and running out as he jumped on a table, dropped his trousers and popped out his penis," the diner said. "Then he cut it off. I couldn't believe it." A Scotland Yard spokesperson said that a man aged between 30 and 40 was the only person hurt in the incident, and that his injuries were selfinflicted.He was taken to hospital, where his condition was described as stable, after police had subdued him using CS gas, and recovered his severed penis, which surgeons have attempted to reattach.It was not known whether the operation has been a success.

Send in your answers..Let's see the smartest of the pack...

Tyra Banks dolls

My friends at cartoondollemporium.com sent me this gorgeous new Tyra Banks dress Doll that was just released into the market...

Below is a semi-naked Tyra Banks doll, below it are tops, bottoms, dresses, accessories and shoes to cover her up with.

When you go to their website, you choose from their variety of clothing and dress the Tyra doll to your taste. I wish it can be done on my blog, but it can't. It's such a fun thing to do.

I loaded a few of her clothing here...check it out

Tyra Banks Doll

TBD Tops

TBD Bottoms

TBD Dresses

TBD Shoes

TBD Accessories

for the real thing, go to www.cartoondollemporium.com/tyrabanksdoll.html. Also you'll find Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfey and Tiger Woods dolls on this site too. Enjoy!

Nollywood Actors speak

Top actor/comedian Victor Osuagwu speaks

Where do you get your inspiration from?

"I’m a trained Theatre artist, and my role as an artist is to interpret a particular work the way it should be. It must be in the agreement with what my director wants.If they ask me to play a mad man now, I have to do a research on a mad man, going to the streets to learn something striking about a particular one. So it’s for meto pick the character of the one that I’ve noticed something striking about. I can even go very close and watch this particular character and the way he behaves and then transfer that particular character to myself but in all the inspiration comes from God."

What distinguishes you from the other comedians in the industry?

"Everybody has their own attitude. So, I think I have a particular characteristic that distinguishes me from others. As a comedian, you must have outstanding features. And this helps in selling yourself to your audience. Every comedianhas identifiable features that they are being appreciated for."

Is this what you have always wanted to do when you were coming into the system?

"To be candid with you, I didn’t want to be known as a funny character because there is this thing that goes along with the industry: comedians can easily be stigmatised, so at the initial stage, I didn’t want to be a comedian. But youknow, even your friends would tell you "Victor, man, you are a talented comedian". Being a comedian does not mean I can’t play other roles, but the truth is that everybody has their own time. My brother, it’s really paying off and that is why I keep doing it."

Why Ini Edo was banned - Emeka Duru, the guy who petitioned Actors' Guild on Nigeria, AGN, on Ini Edo

Can you give an account of what led to Ini Edo’s ban?

"Ini Edo was on a movie location that I managed. The movie is entitled ‘The Most Wanted Bachelor’ produced by Get Rich Productions. On the first day of the movie production when we were supposed to be on set but Ini told me she would be coming late because she had a police case. I gave her a whole day off. I told her to resume at the movie location by 9.00am the next day. But she did not showup until mid day. There was another instance when I called her that she is expected to be on set in Surulere. She promised to come but Ini switched off her phones and she did notcome to the location that day. She came the next day and I told her for delaying production she has to pay us a fine of twenty thousand naira. Her reply was that she would not talk to me because I am a bloody production man. She said she can only talk to the executive producer. Though I made sure the matter ended like that and we kept shooting.On the last day of the shoot we had worked for about twelve days. We were supposed to shoot an office scene. On that location we artistes like Mike Ezurunoye, Uche Jombo, Uche Elendu, Monalisa Chinda, Justus Esiri and other artistes. I had to plan the shooting in such a way that non of the artistes wouldfeel bad that he or she is not being attended to. I made sure we shot the scenes at random. Initially we had planned to shoot overnight to make sure we endedthe production. I pleaded with her to report to the location by 6.00pm. she came and we started shooting.She had two scenes left and she was to do a voice over. she shot a scene and I told her to go and change but to my surprise to executive producer called myattention that Ini was leaving the location. I looked through the window and I saw her driving off. The executive producer and I followed her with his bus but we couldn’t catch up with her. We both called her at different times and her phones were switched off. I later called Uche Jombo who told me they were at RockView Hotel in Festac Town. We drove down to the hotel claiming we were guests but I think Ini had instructed that we should not be allowed into the hotel. While atgate the Executive Producer called my attention to her car which had been covered by a tarpaulin. I immediately created a scene and the manager of the hotel came and confirmed that Ini Edo was a guest in the hotel but she is not expecting any visitor. He advised that we call her on her mobile phones. I made the man to understand that her phones were switched off. We returned to location that day but we all felt embarrassed and insulted by Ini’s action. The next day the movie director, Afam Okerere called Uche Jombo to inform Ini to go to Surulere to do the voice over but she did not call or come to the movielocation.I reported the case to the national president of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) who told me to make a formal presentation of complaint. I wrote a petition to that effect. She was summoned to a panel on 16th of April by 12 noon. She did not come until 2.25pm. The chairman of the committee, who also doubles as the nation secretary of AGN gave her a grace of one hour thirty minutes. By 2.25pm the committee took an action to ban her."

Aside being indicipline were there other reasons for her being banned?

"No. But there were insinuations that she was drinking and smoking on set? I don’t have any business with what anyone takes. What I am concerned with is movie production as long it does not affect movie production. But I will frown at any artiste who does not take his or her job serious. Ini’s disposition to her job as become an attitude of sort. I have only acted who is professional about his job."

Joke Silva talks about why she's on low cut

Why low cut?

"Well, I think it is because I got to a point where my hair wasn’t as healthy as it used to be, and I really got so tired of perming, or braiding. I just chopped it off. This is how I started my career anyway. I was hoping that if I chopped it off, it would still look nice."

Dressing.

"Anything that makes me comfortable. At times I wear trousers; at times, it is boubou; at other times, I wear keftan– even the way I dress now."

Most prized possession.

"Maybe it will be my phone. I have become so attached to my phone, really.

What turns you on in people?

"It is a combination of intelligence and integrity.

What turns you off?

"Nastiness. Those who go out of their way to be nasty put me off."

Why would anyone want to be nasty to Joke Silva? She's such a talented, sweet woman.

I body Scrub every two weeks - Top Nollywood actress, Clarion Chukwura Abiola

Beauty routine

"I don’t have a standard. The only thing that is routine is that every two weeks, I do body scrubbing with massage. Every Thursday, I give myself a facial. Every alternative Saturday, I body-scrub. I am a very hygienic person, I don’t use soap for my intimate hygene, I use the same fresh range for intimate hygiene. I use Dudu Osun every night and Lux soap every morning.

Turns–ons in people

"Laughter, communication. I have to be able to communicate with you, I have to be with one who can talk, someone who is knowledgeable about so various issues, not one who talks about people.Turns–offs Lousiness, gossip and unnecessary arrogance and snobbishness."

Nollywood Actress Oby Edozien speaks on why she dated her friend's ex-boyfriend

Attention from men

"I cope with it, I talk to them nicely. I don’t chase them away but when they get the message they go away. I don’t just go into relationship for going sake. I will settle down very soon by God’s grace, God will bring me my husband; every woman’s dream is to get married"

Sacrifices

"The sacrifice I made was to trek to long locations because there was no GSM, people also take advantage of my kindness and goodness, and I’ve leant to manage it. Some people said Oby is arrogant and rude but others have different notions about me, I carry myself very well I know some people are known for such notorious attitude. People see actresses as wayward and loose person, but that didn’t distract me. I don’t think I’ve got to the height because I’m thinking of Hollywood."

Regret

"Yes I took a decision to romance my friend’s ex-boyfriend she stops dating for three years without telling her. That caused a lot of troubles, lies, rumours and misunderstanding between us. Wao! I didn’t know I would be blackmailed to such extent. I could have just told my friend that I’m dating her ex-boyfriend. That is why I don’t have any best friend in the industry but I only have colleagues that are friends, my mother and sisters are my best friends."

Top Nigerian actress Chiege Alisigwe speaks on why her marriage lasted three months

"I was once married and I have a baby girl. The marriage crashed. The marriage did not work out. The marriage was consummated in 2002. For me, it is past tense and I won’t talk much about it. We were incompatible and it didn’t work.

Was her husband the wrong choice?

"I won’t say I made a wrong choice of a husband. May be I was naive when the affair was contracted. May be it was a wrong choice. I won’t call it a mistake but I call it experience which I have learnt from. The marriage, lasted for only three months you won’t believe it. I had concieved the baby in my womb before we fell apart, three months later so I had the baby and have taken care of her all by myself since she was born. When I am working, she stays with my sister and as soon as I am back from location, I take her. She lives with me and I love her so much. In fact, she is my jewel.

On being a single mum

"It is not easy but I cope. My baby is my jewel and I am very happy I have her. It’s a blessing and not a stress as people want to say. Her name is Munachimsoaga.

Will she marry again?

"Yes, if the time is right and the guy is right. Why not? I am young and can’t live my entire life alone without a man. But the time and the guy have to be right. I can’t afford to make the mistake I made earlier so I am watchful and very careful the way I fall this time around." I say goodluck to Chiege

All stories Thanks to my friends at Nigerianfilms.

Please feel free to comment.

My Friday Night Outing.

I'm still in a daze. Had a crazy Friday night. I'm not a night club person, don't particularly enjoy the loud music, alcohol, cigarettes etc but I love to dance, so once in a while, I like to go someplace where I can unwind.

I'd been planning a quiet, stay in Friday night until top designer, Frank Osodi, called me at about 8pm inviting me to a place called Fashion Cafe. It's a new bar/restaurant/night club off Awolowo Road. For some reason I never say no to Frank. I always go where he invites me to...he gave me a modeling career, he's my mentor...besides that, HE was up for some partying, cos the last time we went to a club was in February. So we set out at 10pm.

We met Frank Osodi, Sunny Neji, Emeka Ossai, Remi Lagos, and so many others at Fashion Cafe. It was fun for a little while until Remi Lagos decided it was time for us to go check out another club. In a convoy, we went to a new Jazz joint called Jazz Session, a really classy, clean place with great ambience.

That was where I saw Funmi Iyanda. I couldn't get enough of hugging her. She's like the nicest woman ever. She went on and on about how much she loved my blog, using some ecouraging words. That was the high point of the night for me. Funmi is such a friendly, down to earth person who has no airs about her...no 'I'm a celebrity' attitude. She's so cool! And she was looking so hot hot hot! Most people around couldn't take their eyes off her. She's such an inspiration...

We hung out at Jazz Session for a little while until some people in our group decided it was time to check out another spot. So we left Jazz Session and went to Tiffany Amber's hubby's night club Lacasa on Ozumba Mbadiwe, but we couldn't get in 'cos they said Friday Nights were members only night! Yawn!

Anyway, we left there and headed to club towers on Idowu Taylor...same luck...Club Towers was closed. We decided to go check out one last spot before calling it a night...we went to Da Grotto on Etim Inyang...that was our last bus stop and it was quite fun as I had the opportunity to finally dance. It was fun.

Got home at about 4 am really tired...those who club every weekend I wonder how they do it...I'm still trying to recover from last night's trip...

That is the end of my story, and the moral of my story is...you decide lol. I feel like I'm just blabbing...just wanted to share my fun night with y'all...

Something else I want to talk about that's bothering some members of my family and HIM. I'm getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. I eat, I don't know why I can't seem to add weight. HE took me to a pharmacy this afternoon and bought me all kinds of vitamins, appetite stimulants, blood tonics etc etc. He's threatened to dump me if I don't add weight lol....my younger sister too has become almost a pain in the neck, she's always bugging me about my slimness, even went as far as reporting me to my mum. So I seriously need to add weight. Anyone know what I can do? Do tell me abeg o.

Meanwhile I just got myself a new office space. Five rooms and a big reception area...I'm so excited about it, I'll tell y'all about it later...

Wienna where are you? Get in touch babes. Miss you already!

Goodnight everyone. Kisses!