British Soap Actor Who Wants to Do Beckham, Does Beckham

Ricky Whittle, an actor on the popular British soap Hollyoaks, imitated (as others have done in the past) David Beckham's well-known Armani underwear rope ad for the UK's Now magazine:

Writes The Sun: "He clung onto a rope and had temporary body art applied to his arms and torso to recreate the footballer's tattoo heavy look. But rather than spend hours down the gym to maintain his hot bod, Ricky insisted he guzzles down a diet of Chinese food, pizza and kebabs. He said: 'I've no idea how I keep in shape because I eat like a pig!' Talking about his idol, he added that Becks is an athlete so 'looks amazing'. But the cheeky actor then joked: 'I'm not being funny but even I'd go there!'"

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Gays in Serbia plan September Pride parade for Belgrade: "The committee said the parade will be organized in cooperation with Belgrade police, Serbia's B92 Online reported. The organizers said they will try to avoid incidents like those in 2001 in Belgrade when participants were injured by members of Serbian nationalist extremist groups."

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Man arrested in Germany for underwear theft: "Usually, it's knickers that are stolen - but police found more than 1,000 pairs of used men's underpants in Michael Wolker's flat. The underwear had been taken from the changing rooms of sports clubs and swimming pools in Gelnhausen, Germany over 18 months. Wolker also had more than 100 pairs of swimming trunks, in addition to the underpants. Officers raided the 56-year-old's flat after he was stopped leaving one club with three more pairs in a bag."

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World Outgames to begin in Copenhagen this weekend: "Nearly 100 nations will be represented, and up to 200,000 participants, tourists and Copenhageners are expected to take part in World Outgames 2009 from July 25 - August 2. Apart from focusing on human rights for nine days, a large number of theme festivals and an extensive cultural and sports program will make Copenhagen the place to be."

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Hugh Dancy on Oscar Wilde: "I think Wilde did something remarkable, at least by the standards of his society: He painted his vision of life, not only by being gay, but also through his shockingly new ideas about how we should look at art."

Burning spear question: Did modern humans kill of Neanderthals?

Socialized medicine: John Aravosis of Americablog details what happened this week when he was forced to have emergency eye surgery in France.

New report says murder rate against trans people on the rise.

Props from Lost to go up for auction: "With the final season of 'Lost' coming next year, ABC is auctioning off these and other iconic props, set pieces, costumes and collectors’ artifacts from the show to the highest bidder. There will be a special sneak preview of the items at the San Diego Comic-Con convention, which gets underway Thursday. Mr. Eko's club and Kate's obsessively chased toy plane are also up for grabs."

Harry Potter Actor Freddie Stroma Gets Down in His Underwear

Freddie Stroma, who makes his debut in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as Hogwarts student Cormac McLaggen, is a rising British actor.

Since entering the Potter fold, Stroma's past performances have been dug up, one of which is a modeling/dancing stint in tighty-whities and other styles for Acne underwear. You can come up with your own music.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP....

David and Victoria Beckham Pair Up for Armani Underwear

The latest from Mr. Armani. That rope is getting a lot of use. One more shot, AFTER THE JUMP...

UCLA Undie Run: Do You Want to Tickle His Elmo?

Mike Rose of the L.A. Times interviews UCLA co-eds at the tri-annual Undie Run (where students blow off steam from finals by running through the streets in their underwear) about who they are wearing.

Slurs this gent: "This, right, here, it's Elmo baby. You know, I think this is a happy place and Elmo's a happy guy. You know, I haven't [asked anybody to tickle my Elmo] yet. Do you want to tickle my Elmo?"

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

  

David Beckham Unveils Beefcake Underwear Billboard in London

David Beckham was on hand at Selfridges department store today for the unveiling of a huge billboard for his Armani Underwear campaign, his first in London.

Said Becks: "I don't mind taking pictures in my underwear. It's when the pictures are unveiled, like today, that it's a bit embarrassing."

Three more shots, AFTER THE JUMP...

  

(photos below: splash news)