SHOCKER: RICHARD QUEST

I LITERALLY HAVE MY HANDS COVERING MY MOUTH RIGHT ABOUT NOW AS I FIND OUT THE SHOCKING NEWS BEHIND CNN INTERNATIONAL'S ANCHOR RICHARD QUEST.

Mr Quest was arrested on Friday morning in New York's Central Park for loitering and possession of meth.

According to reports, he was arrested with drugs in his pocket, a rope around his neck that was tied to his genitals, and a sex toy in his boot - this might be slightly exaggerated but I still remain shocked by the very idea of the man that I respect a lot being ridiculed to such an extent.

This just reiterate my life motto - All men have demons irrespective of status, background or influence. We are our own worst enemy.

FOX-BOOGIE BROWN IS BAD AS HELL.............

FOXY BROWN IS OUT OF JAIL. EXPECT A REALITY SHOW, A BOOK, A CLOTHING LINE, AN ALBUM.....just get ready for the Foxy Hell!

Can anyone spot how bad those fake tears were?

AGE AIN'T NOTHING BUT A NUMBER

I was watching some well deserved dose of this year's Dancing with the Stars and I stumbled upon these young (I mean - young!) dancing couple who were competing for the Junior Championship trophy. Their routine was so effortless and breathtaking that I gave them a standing ovation from the comforts of my own living room.

Please watch this 10 & 8-year olds respectively.

USH-ER, USHER!

Here's the cover to Mr Raymond's forthcoming album Here I Stand.

To be brutally honest, this is a shit cover artistically and one which isn't particularly inspiring. I trust the songs on the album will be fantastic but sadly it seems Ush- Usher is missing the mark with all his visuals at the moment including the atrocious Love in the Club promotional video.

We blame Tameka - for everything.........she is clearly stopping the creative blood access to his brain!

BADGE OF HONOUR: THE DECKER SHOE

They were big when I was 12 and quite frankly I use to associate them with blue-collar English men who strolled effortlessly down Kings Road, London.

But they are back....I'd like to introduce you to the must-have shoes of the summer -THE DECKER SHOE - originally made famous by the likes of JF Kennedy, Ralph Lauren and former bond, Roger Moore.

I got me a pair, how about you? They are delightful with a pair of slim fit chinos and if you really want to be fashion forward, buy a pair in BLUE - this season's alpha male colour.

Our recommended choice is the Timberland Classic 2-Eye Boat which are traditionally classic. It might set you back £85 but it's worth every penny. They are made with rich oiled leathers, in which water beads up and rolls off, along with handsewn moccasin construction and 360-degree rawhide laces. The non-marking, siped outsole provides ship-to-shore comfort and durability.

P.S. You don't need to own a boat to own a pair, so don't worry.

TRIED: MISSY

Can someone please beg Missy to stop churning out this drivel-no life music that she has embarked on since 2006. To be brutally honest - everything about the Misdemeanour is wack and sadly, it's been like this for a while.

Has anyone seen her new video? I mean come on, this shouldn't have made it out of the studio not to say an elaborate video to match. This is ....!

THIS IS MY AFRICA

There's an exciting film quickly generating buzz at the on-going New York African Film Festival. The film is THIS IS MY AFRICA. The director is Nigerian-born Zina Saro-Wiwa. The film explores current perceptions of African cultures, setting out to change the way the world sees Africa, it explores the perceptions of 20 people, black and white, who love the continent.

The produce is a colourful array of common perceptions. Contributors to the film include actors Chiwatel Ejiofor, Colin Firth (who apparently was born in Nigeria, broadcaster John Snow amongst many.

The director best describes the film as "a 50-minute crash course in African culture."

We are not sure what the release situation will be but you can be assured that we shall keep you posted.

THE 'TORCH' TUSSLE MOVES TO THE SAN FRAN BAY

Ineffective crisis management could potentially harm China's hard-won reputation built over recent decades.

It is no rocket science that recent pro-Tibet campaigners are quickly disrupting the normal proceedings of the much anticipated Beijing Olympics. A vehicle which China is desperate to capitalise on to declare its political and economic superiority.

However, as more and more oppositions and global protests overshadow the Olympic games - creating embarrassing headlines as we've seen on the streets of London & Paris during the Olympic torch journey through these Capitals (36 people were arrested, two protesters were held for trying to put out the flame which one man tried to grab the torch out of a celebrity carrier's hands. The images splashed across newspapers were one of shock and chaos. I couldn't actually see the flame amidst the 2,000 police uniforms, China's blue track-suited "guardians of the flame" and hundreds of protest placards)



The question is couldn't the Chinese government have prepared something to combat these embarrassing images which has already casted a shadow over the sporting tradition? Surely, this crisis could have been identified before it happened hence a better response to the situation could have been applied.

Perhaps, I'm been naive and the Chinese government couldn't have predicted this outcome. I will not share my personal views on the current situation - I am neither a politician or a sporting athlete, what I will say is how China communicates with all stakeholders is vital.

China needs to communicate exactly what it is going to do, in a timely manner to all stakeholders - the Olympics board, sponsors, governments, Tibetans, the press, sporting associations, athletes and many others.

In the meantime, the mayhem is almost certain to continue in San Francisco later today. This will be the Olympic torch's only North-American stop in the 85,000 miles journey en route Beijing. San Francisco was chosen because of its large Chinese-American population.

BRUNO IS SOOOOO LIKE 2020!

Sacha Baren Cohen has done it again. First, he put Kazakhstan on the map (although not depicting the entire truth about the country) now he's turned his talents into fashion and the result is Bruno (sometimes written as Brüno), a fictional homosexual character. Bruno has no surname (like Madonna, Cher - get it!) and he claims to be a reporter from an Austrian television station and interviews unsuspecting guests about topics such as fashion, entertainment, celebrities and homosexuality, with an emphasis on the latter as each interview progresses.

Following the success of Borat, Universal Studios acquired the rights to make the Bruno movie. There are rumours that the film is currently in production and due for a September 2008 release date.

Just pure genius. In the meantime, here's a snippet of what to expect.

VENUS COME BACK & KICK ASS

I'm deeply saddened by Venus Williams infinite absence from Tennis, the Six-time Grand Slam Champion recently said at the Bausch & Lomb Championship “I’ve just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I’m working on that at the moment and I’m hoping to be back playing as soon as possible,”

The reasons behind the hiatus is unclear although after her last week's defeat to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Sony Ericsson Open, she had hinted that she was dealing with a medical issue.

At Renaissance Man, we love Venus. Venus is ace. We certainly like her more than Serena eventhough we think Serena's strategic attempt to become Ms. Common was all a hoax to get favourable coverage from us.

In the words of Bruno -

ish-no-think-so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DIOR HOMME SPRING/SUMMER 2008

Just in case you thought this picture was taken during Duran Duran days - you're wrong. Here's a hot new "trend" straight off the Dior Homme Spring/Summer 2008 Collection in Paris.

It took me a while to embrace the skinny, and I'm substantially excited by the James Brown trousers (see below)



but I don't know about this flabby-baggy-pleated thingy. It just screams VICTTTTTTTIMMMMMM!

STRAIGHT TO HELL

If you were ever asked to pray for something that you never wanted to be in your later years.........THIS IS IT!

4 MINUTES OF POP MADNESS

So I really wanted to hate the new single from Madonna and Trousersnake. I really wanted to sooooooooooo badly unfortunately, my first encounter with the promotional video came at a lighthearted time of a dull evening where I was susceptible to liking anything with a Timbaland bassline.

I was very shocked to discover that 4 minutes with Madonna and Timberlake wasn't at all bad and quite honestly, I was impressed.

The single titled strangely '4 minutes' is lifted from the upcoming Hard Candy album which is quickly generating buzz in Pop land but then again with A-list producers, Pharrell Williams and Timbaland - are we really surprised?

I'm not sure what to think about Madge's sudden embrace of HIP-POP although I suspect this is another calculated transformation from Mrs. Ritchie. It will be interesting to hear what the entire record sounds like but I must say I really tired to dislike the very concept.

In the meantime, this is 4 minutes of pure good pop madg-ness!

ASHLEE IS AFTER THE OAPs

Is Ashlee

'plastic nose'

Simpson trying to diss Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Kylie all on her new single 'Out of my head (Ay ya ya)?

This is the 1st single taken from her upcoming third album due for a April Release date. Bizarrely, the track is produced by Timbaland. She claims the video was inspired by Salvador Dali, "one of her favorite artists".

We are like - whatever, something is fishing with this. She's trying to tell the 'older' sexy symbols to take a hike, she's got better legs.

BADGE OF HONOUR: WILEY

It seems doing a dance track over grime lyrics is the formula for chart success these days. We are really feeling the new Wiley single, Wearing my Rolex, he has been one of those British chaps although basking in plenty industry acclaim, he has been robbed with mediocre record sales.

Maybe things will change with this hot single.

We like the video - BIG TIME!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE AN AMERICAN RECORD DEAL MAKES..

So....Ms Shine/ Ms Number #1 (finally) seems to have forgotten where she was 3 months ago. I'm talking about Estelle - British songstress that went cross Atlantic to get a record deal.

In recent weeks since she released American Boy featuring Kanye, she seems to have not only worked with him but adopted his persona. Can someone please tell this girl that she is good but we humour her half the time.

It all started with a radio interview I heard on Choice FM, UK where she got into lip-war with an anchor after they tried to play an April's Fool joke on her. Next, she goes on record criticizing British songstress Duffy and Adele (both have better voices than her). At Renaissance man, we are like Estelle - DON'T GET ABOVE YOURSELF. It's only been 3 minutes.

We thought we should remind her where she was a year ago, just cause you're wearing Vivienne Westwood now, don't mean you've arrived.

Look at the highlights in her hair from back in the day. No comment!

THE 'VOGUE' ISSUE

Sometimes the blogosphere can trigger some bull discussions on what is politically correct and what isn't and sadly since the 24-hours news stations are so desperate for content they decide to engage.

I was astonished to see how much news coverage the recent Vogue magazine cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele is getting.

Some ESPN black anchor described the cover as derogratory to black athletes and something about making these altheles look like "animals". WTFuss? Others have drawn comparisons to King Kong and Fray Wray - What?

I don't care what anyone thinks about the "Beauty and the Beast" esque shoot (Oooooh...I think I'm going to stir up some controversy), did anyone actually look at what the theme for the month's issue was?

This desperate need to draw correlations to the race issue will continue to ruin America yet they all claim to be ready for CHANGE. What-f*****-ever!