Bank holiday weekends might mean lie-ins, beer gardens and general laziness to most of us but this one will be different.
We all the know Grand Canal for being a stunning part of Dublin city but it is also covered in litter, affecting the environment and by extension, our planet.
So this Bank Holiday, why not team up with Deliveroo to help with its canal clean-up initiative?
Taking place on Saturday, May 4 at 10am to 6pm the volunteers will get a €10 Deliveroo credit voucher.
The initiative, which was a great success in 2018, will be held along Charlemont Mall and aims to get more people involved with clean up activities.
Volunteers are invited to spend a small part of their Saturday picking up rubbish around the canal areas of Charlemont Mall.
Buckets, litter pickers, and gloves will be provided.
With the Bank Holiday Weekend fast approaching, rubbish along the banks of the canal and other public areas will have reached an all-time high.
Deliveroo has taken many strides to reduce its carbon footprint, with the introduction of sustainable, non-plastic, eco-friendly packaging over the past year as well as opt-in cutlery options.
A Spokesperson for Deliveroo said, ''It’s fantastic to see Irish people enjoying this spell of good weather as people eat and drink outdoors, but in doing so we must be respectful of the local environment.”
Pink has gotten candid about the tragic miscarriage she suffered when she was just a teenager.
The singer spoke to USA Today about the loss when she divulged that the inspiration behind some of her newest songs comes from her battles with anxiety and self-image.
The 39-year-old revealed that the song, Happy, came from something personal that happened to her.
She said, ''Since I was 17, I’ve always hated my body / and it feels like my body’s hated me” were written about a miscarriage she suffered as a teen.
She revealed, ''The reason I said [that] is because I’ve always had this very tomboy, very strong gymnast body, but actually at 17 I had a miscarriage. And I was going to have that child.''
She continued, ''But when that happens to a woman or a young girl, you feel like your body hates you and like your body is broken, and it’s not doing what it’s supposed to do.''
Pink went on to have a number of miscarriages and has poured the painful emotions into her songwriting.
She said, ''I think it’s important to talk about what you’re ashamed of, who you really are and the painful sh*t. I’ve always written that way.”
It has been therapy that has helped Pink to be so open in her music as it helps her to identify ''blind spots.''
She said, ''I believe in self-confrontation and just getting things out. What I love about therapy is that they’ll tell you what your blind spots are.''
She added, ''Although that’s uncomfortable and painful, it gives you something to work with.''
Pink is now mum to two gorgeous kids with her husband Carey Hart – seven-year-old Willow and two-year-old Jameson
We applaud her bravery in opening up about such a traumatic time in her life and we hope it helps other women who have also suffered miscarriages to feel less alone.
Zoe Saldana has revealed snippets of her personal life, specifically how she raises her three sons with husband Marco Perego Saldana.
The Avengers actress, who plays Gamora in Guardians Of The Galaxy, shares four-year-old twins Cy and Bowie with Marco, as well as two-year-old Zen.
She opened up about how she raises her little boys, revealing that she was attempting to keep her household a "gender-neutal environment" with male and female inspirations involved in their lives.
"I’m always gonna be honest and that is always the best way to welcome healthy and truthful discourse, especially around parenthood," the actress told Us Weekly this week.
"The twins made a comment two weeks ago like, “Boys are stronger than girls,” because they’re in that stage of comparisons. And you have to take a moment and kind of put together an answer that they will understand," she continued.
She wants her boys to be a "blank slate", rather than being influenced by gender stereotypes before choosing their own identities.
Her aim is, "To not bring all this charge that you have as an adult and as a woman into their lives." She opened up last June about allowing her sons to pick their own method of doing things, with Zoe leading by example with her partner.
"We have a very gender-neutral environment where my husband participates in a lot of tasks that were normally given to women and vice versa," she previously told Us Weekly. "I get to do a lot of male things, which is, I don’t know, put the TV together, fix things that break," she said.
"We’re sort of a very gender-fluid household. I think it’s important to raise boys in that environment, and girls as well," the 40-year-old mused.
Zoe has often done things in an unconventional way, shunning 'tradition', such as her husband Marco taking her surname when they wed in 2013.
Saying he liked the name, Zoe recently added:
"He wanted to really represent being a part of my family and represent my father’s legacy. He respected the fact that he didn’t want me to have to give up my name just because that’s the norm."
Saldana was interviewed by People in 2018 and touched upon the idea of gender and parenting;
“When you look at parenting, the whole thing about matriarchy and patriarchy, and Daddy’s little girl and Mama’s boys ― my husband and I find that completely ludicrous and absolutely unhealthy for the upbringing of a child."
“You’re giving them a very distorted and limited view on what a female role is supposed to be in a family and what a male role is supposed to be."
Baby makes three for fitness blogger Kayla Itsines.
The Australian social media star announced the happy news on Instagram with a snap of her fiancé Tobi and the tot.
The health blogger, known for her Sweat app, revealed that they called the little one Arna Leia Pearce.
She wrote, ''I just stared into Tobis eyes the whole time during delivery, nervously whispering “please let her be healthy, please be okay, please be okay” and Tobi kept repeating “I love you so much – she’s going to be healthy it’s okay just breathe it’s okay”.’
She continued, ''I am so thankful to have the most amazing doctor and midwives ever to help me. This experience has been amazing for me and I am proud to say that.''
Kayla, who had a C-section also said that it took her a few days to recover from the procedure.
Tobi also posted an update, talking about how fatherhood has impacted his life already.
He wrote, ''To be honest, I don’t think any to be mum or dad knows what to expect when entering parenthood for the first time. I expected so many great things and an abundance of learnings, but I couldn’t be more pleasantly surprised by how great this is already. I’ve never felt so connected.''
He added, ''For every couple that goes on the pregnancy journey together, I am sure you can all relate to just how incredible it is, but also how it is hard work and requires a lot of teamwork. Throughout that journey, almost daily I was reminded just how strong and caring Kayla is and I couldn’t be more proud, I just know she is going to be such a great a mum.''
Huge congratulations – enjoy every minute with your gorgeous bundle of joy.
Okay, so any Game of Thrones fanatic has begun to see Danaerys Targaryen's magical triplet dragons almost like our own beloved pets
While poor old Viserion got turned into a baddie White Walker dragon, breathing blue flames up his brother Drogon's tail throughout the Battle of Winterfell.
Nevertheless, Rhaegal and Drogon persisted, but what's happened to our wee pups since the Battle of Winterfell, AKA the Long Night, AKA the episode that broke us into a thousand pieces with nerves?
Thank God Arya Stalk really is THAT B*TCH and stabbed the Night King into a million miniscule pieces, so that means evil Viserion is toast. But who died in the battle?
it truly broke out hearts to see Dany's dragon turned to ice in season seven, when the Night King threw a spear at him. Viserion was seconds away from killing Jon Snow in the Winterfell face-off, too. Good thing Arya doesn't care for blue lives.
We're gagging to know what happened to Danaerys' other dragons, because they will most likely be highly important in the battle to dethrone Cersei Lannister.
Viserion attacked his brother Rhaegal, who Jon was busy riding, and seriously injured him. Rhaegal disappeared for the rest of the battle once Jon fell off the dragon, but he's a trooper and makes an appearance in the trailer for next week's episode.
Drogon nearly went six feet underground after Dany fell into a battalion of freshly cooked White Walkers. We were super worried for him when he seemingly became overpowered by the sheer number of them.
However, good old Drogon seems perfectly fine in the new teaser for season eightm episode four, thankfully.
His appearance is seen in the frame when Sansa gazes up at both dragons, on their way to give Cersei an absolute blast no doubt.
We can't wait to see what they do in King's Landing, and if they can dethrone the ruthless Lannister queen and her boytoy, Euron Greyjoy. We suspect Yara Greyjoy will tackle Euron, but that's another story.
In essence; Drogon and Rhaegal are good boys, and deserve many treats.
Kylie has now made a subtle change to her social media, which throws more than a few forest of shade at Woods in the process.
The profile image featuring the former duo comes from a Kylie Cosmetics collaboration they did together and the products from that same collab had gone on sale in the wake of the news that Jordyn and Tristan had “hooked up.” Weird.
Kylie has now changed the image to one of just herself, mainly giving a stare that could give Bran Stark a run for his money.
Image credit: Twitter/@KylieJenner
Kylie is in the middle of promoting new goods, and the new banner picture is most definitely from the promo images. It could be possible that the new image wasn't intended to be shade at all, but this is the Kardashians we're talking about.
Shade is part of their careers. The last update we had was when Jordyn spoke to paparazzi at LAX airport about her love for Kylie over a week ago, with her mum offering plenty of good wishes for the make-up mogul.
In a video byTMZ, Jordyn was asked point-blank whether she would be "willing to rekindle the friendship and try to make things right with Kylie." Woods replied saying, "I have love for everyone."
Her mum was more direct. "We love Kylie," she said, with Jordyn quipping , "Always."
We'll see where this goes, but it doesn't look great for the model.
Hollywood is notorious for it's lack of consideration for the importance of equal pay. Actresses have continuously lost out on wages to male co-stars who are contributing the exact same or less to the project than them.
Robert Pattinson has now weighed in on the gender pay gap in Hollywood, claiming that he'd work without pay if it meant securing great actresses. Um, we heart?
The actor signed a #MeToo 'behavioural contract' before signing onto a Netflix original project out later this year. The King also stars Lily Rose-Depp and Timothée Chalamet.
Most famously, Michelle Williams was paid EIGHT TIMES less than Mark Wahlberg for All the Money in the World, and earned just $1,000 for the reshoots. Bear in mind that Mark isn't exactly Oscars material, yet he was given $1.5 million.
The highest-paid actress of last year, Scarlett Johansson, made $198.5 million less than the highest-paid actor, George Clooney.
High-profile Times Up activist Jessica Chastain was given roughly $1.75 million for The Martian, while Matt Damon allegedly earned as much as $25 million. Wow.
Pattinson, who found fame after starring in Twilight, told The Sunday Times;
“If it’s a question of me being paid more and getting a worse actress, or me being paid less and getting a better actress, I’ll do it for fucking free." We stan a Times Up supporter.
He also divulged why he never speaks openly about his romantic life, saying;
"If you let people in, it devalues what love is," he says. The actor is currently dating Suki Waterhouse.
"If a stranger on the street asked you about your relationship, you’d think it extremely rude. If you put up a wall it ends up better."
We're guessing he keeps his cards close to his chest, love-wise, since the whole Kristen Stewart cheating scandal. He sounds like a sound feminist lad, one you'd bring home to your granny for sure,
The untimely passing of actor Luke Perry left his family, friends and fans at a complete and utter loss for words. The world was stunned to hear that the Riverdale actor suffered a stroke at the mere age of 52 and completely devastated when it was revealed that the 90210 alum had died on March 4.
His Riverdale co-star and on-screen son KJ Apa has opened up about losing his dear friend during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. KJ had previously paid tribute to Luke on Instagram but has understandably kept quiet about the harrowing loss.
He took a moment to remember his Riverdale co-star during his interview, stressing how kind-hearted Luke was.
The 21-year-old said: “He did everything he could to make everyone, no matter how big or small you were, feel comfortable and welcome. It's hard to put into words how that makes me feel."
The Last Summer star even shared that Luke had a special relationship with his family and made sure to stay in touch with KJ’s parents in New Zealand.
"He would call my parents every week and keep them updated on how I'm going. If I had a cold or something he would say, 'I took some Gatorade to his apartment the other day.’”
Kylie decided to go for a big gesture to mark the birthday, and she really went for it.
Kylie appeared to buy a billboard in Los Angeles to celebrate his special day.
It was spotted by fans in West Hollywood, and it features a giant portrait of the couple’s 14-month-old daughter Stormi, as well as a snap of Kylie and their baby girl.
Can you believe it's been two years since April 28, 2017?
The day when mass chaos occurred in the Bahamas after Fyre Fest descended into disarray, with musical acts dropping out, no food and water and fake amenities similar to a refugee camp.
Marketed by the industry's most valuable influencers such as Hailey Baldwin and Kendall Jenner as the Coachella of the tropical islands, the festival organisers committed total fraud and lost thousands of dollars.
The upper class scandal led to aHulu and Netflix documentary, GoFundMe pages set up for all the staff who were duped out of money in their home of the Bahamas, and arrests being made.
Tickets cost thousands of dollars and gained notoriety through the famous 'orange tile' advertising by famous models on Instagram such as Bella Hadid.
Let's just say it DEFINITELY was not what it was advertised, with glamorous rich folks receiving sad pieces of cheese on bread instead of gourmet meals, and had no place to lodge at all in the middle of a deserted island.
The festival organiser, Billy McFarland, 'fully postponed' the event after pretty much everyone had already arrived. Smart.
"After assessing the situation this morning and looking at best options for our guests, we cannot move forward as we hoped we could. At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get all travelers home safely," they quoted at the time.
Ja Rule, a rapper who befriended Billy McFarland at the time and co-organised the event, assured attendees that Fyre Fest was "not a scam" and that he was heartbroken about the scenario. He faced his share of backlash, deservedly so.
He tweeted; "I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!" Mmmmhmmm. McFarland was charged with wire fraud and sentenced to six years in prison, where he currently is still serving his time in Otisville
Where are they now, though? Let's start with good old Billy McFarland.
McFarland is sharing a prison with Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. He was found guilty of defrauding investors of the festival out of a whopping $26 million in November 2018.
He plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud, and faces three years of supervised release when he completes his sentence. The 27-year-old issued an apology to People, saying;
"I am incredibly sorry for my collective actions and will right the wrongs I have delivered to my family, friends, partners, associates and, you, the general public," he said.
"I've always sought – and dreamed – to accomplish incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good, but I made many wrong and immature decisions along the way and I caused agony."
"As a result, I've lived every day in prison with pain, and I will continue to do so until I am able to make up for some of this harm through work and actions that society finds respectable."
The Hulu documentary claims that McFarland is teaching a music entrepreneurship class to fellow inmates of the Otisville Federal Correctional Facility in NYC.
While the rapper didn't take part in either documentary, he was heavily featured in both. Fair enough, considering he was Fyre's co-founder and worked very closely with McFarland.
The 42-year-old has remained seemingly in the clear since his partner went behind bars, famously defending himself as clueless on social media,
"I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make?" he tweeted. Nevertheless, he was subjected to multiple lawsuits due to his ties.
Ja Rule has since begun a new investment in an app called ICONN, a "celebrity entertainment book & concierge service." Hmmm, we feel like we've heard this one before. "It's very different, but it's similar," he admitted.
Bless his wee soul. Poor Andy is now remembered as the key player who attempted to save the doomed festival through using any means necessary.
He quickly became an Internet sensation after the Netflix documentary aired, with McFarland asking him to "take one for the team" and perform oral sex on a customs official so they could get bottled water delivered.
He famously declared that he took a shower, rinsed his mouth with mouthwash and drove across town to do the deed. Thankfully, the situation didn't escalate to sexual coercion, but Andy is still revered nonetheless.
"I just don't want to necessarily be known as the Blow Job Kind of the world," he said. Well, nowadays he's doing amazingly well considering his reputation. One might even call him a breakout star?
King admitted in a recent Netflix video that he was "completely blown away" (LOL) by the public response to the interview. "I am now a noun, a verb, an adjective…it's mind-blogging."
The Billy Whisperer admitted to the L.A. Times he hasn't cut his ties with his imprisoned protégé; "No, I'm not done with him. I know- I'm Uncle Whackjob," he said.
"We come from a preppy background. Half my friends have sons his age. I didn't have somebody to mentor me at that age. He's not a horrible guy. He has hurt a lot of people. Will I probably go visit him someday? Yeah, I will probably. And maybe that's the closure I need."
The 57-year-old is still working as an event producer, and aided the start if a GoFundMe to help pay back all of the local Bahamian staff members.
Last but not least; Maryanne Rolle
Rolle was the caterer at the Exuma Point Resort in the tropical islands of the Bahamas, and lost her ENTIRE life savings to feed the staff of the festival.
I just watched the Netflix Fyre Fest doc. What a mess. The only person who settled her debts that weren’t even her debts was the black woman, Maryann Rolle.
Of course, anyone who watched the documentary had a huge amount of sympathy for her, and began a GoFundMe campaign to help her out.
It raised over $123,000 dollars and exceeded the goal, with many of the festival organisers offering donations.
Maryanne and her husband, Elvis Rolle, have found the attention highly difficult, and revealed in an interview that she has fallen ill due to the stress, "She can't cope with it all," Elvis told The National. "I hope she feels better soon."
I’m really, really mad at what they did to this lady – Maryanne Rolle, the owner of the Great Exuma restaurant who spent $50,000 of her own money to pay her staff. But a gofundme started for her met its goal! So that’s good. #FyreFestival#FyreNetflixpic.twitter.com/a2kDX3OpAJ
As for the amazing GoFundMe campaign, he said, ""It means everything, it means we get something back from everything we put in. It is like God is watching over us."
So there you have it. Most of them are still embroiled in the law, but at least Maryanne got her savings back? We wish her well.
Pieta and Electric Ireland recently unveiled the ‘Wall of Hope’ – a public work of art created to officially launch Darkness into Light 2019 – the major charity fundraiser that is expected to attract over 250,000 participants this May 11, 2019.
In 2018, Darkness into Light was hosted in over 200 venues across 19 countries and 5 continents. This year, Pieta and Electric Ireland have increased capacity, with additional volunteers and over a quarter of a million people are expected to walk, from darkness into light, on May 11 at 4:15 am. Registration for the walk is now open at www.darknessintolight.ie.
About the Wall of Hope
Located on Dublin’s Camden Row, The Wall of Hope is a larger-than-life mural, created by Subset, a group of artists responsible for some of Ireland’s most provocative street art. The work signifies the Hope that Darkness Into Light spreads across the globe every year. Using #DIL2019 and #ThePowerOfHope, Pieta are encouraging people to share their messages of Hope in the lead up to the walk on Saturday 11 May and beyond.
Darkness into Light is organised by Pieta and proudly supported by Electric Ireland since 2013. It is a global movement dedicated to ending suicide and supporting those who engage in self-harm. By walking from Darkness Into Light, participants play an important role in removing the stigma around suicide and self-harm as well as raising vital funds to fight suicide.
The unique event is symbolic of the journey from despair to hope. It begins, in darkness, at 4.15am and continues for 5 kilometers through to dawn. Funds raised from Darkness Into Light help keep Pieta’s counselling services free of charge and freely accessible to those in suicidal crisis, people who engage in self-harm, and to those bereaved by suicide; last year, participants raised a massive €6 million through the event.
Pieta has supported over 40,000 people with face to face therapy. Since opening its doors 13 years ago, Pieta has heard painful truths from thousands of people who have come to the organisation at the point of suicidal crisis or actively engaging in self-harm. In 2017, one person a day died by suicide in Ireland and worldwide close to 800,000 people die by suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds.
Darkness Into Light is vital for fundraising, for raising awareness and for bringing people together in a spirit of solidarity, comfort and hope. To find your nearest venue and for registration, visit www.darknessintolight.ie
