Thursday, August 5, 2010

Tyler Perry... "To Chase Down A Dream!"

To chase down a dream!


"Sorry I've been MIA but we just finished the movie, For Colored Girls, and
I have to tell you, I have new respect for Ntozake Shange's 1975 writings.
Listening to these words spoken through the voices of Phylicia Rashad,
Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Macy Gray, Kimberly Elise, Thandie
Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson and Loretta Devine, made me not
only respect the brilliance of the material, but also pull out everything
in me to do my best to give it the care and attention to detail that it
deserved. Out of all that I've ever done in my life, nothing has taken
more out of me than this film. It is remarkable.

Being so drained, I decided to take a few days off. Yesterday I was
hiking a mountain in Hawaii with a friend. I was laboring up this
beautiful green pastured mountain, looking down at my feet trying to be
sure of my footing, while at the same time trying to catch my breath from
the altitude. At times, I would make big steps, sometimes all I could do
was take small ones. The terrain was uneven and rough at times. It took
a lot of effort and a lot of thought so, needless to say, I was getting
really tired and at times wanted to stop or just turn back.

I got to one peak and I thought "I'm here, great, we can rest now" only to
realize that just because I was at the top of one peak, that didn't mean I
had arrived. There were more valleys to go through and more heights
to reach. It was interesting to me, that in order to go higher, we
usually had to go down through a valley, and it went on and on and up and
up. I was tired and wanted to sit down but my friend said, "Come on,
let's go a little higher." So, not to be outdone by a girl (lol), I dug
my hiking boots in and went a little higher. We finally got to one of the
highest points and she said to me, "This is the best part, now turn
around." I turned around and behind me was the most amazing view that I
had seen in my 40 years on this earth. As far as my eyes could see,
beauty reigned. The Hawaiian Islands seemed to be leaping up out of the
silver blue sea, stretching up to catch the dust of the sky. The clouds
seemed close enough to catch in my hand and make a wish; rays of sunlight
danced through them trying to find a path to show off their own glow and
power. Not even Picasso could have out-painted the canvas that was before
me. The heavens were declaring the glory of God. I saw Him in motion.

I said to my friend, "When did we get this high?", and she said, "It was
in the climb." I couldn't help but think about life - mine and maybe even
yours. I thought about how hard it had been for me chasing down my dream.
I thought about how hard it can be to believe sometimes. I thought about
the entire struggle, all of the pain, all of the hope, all of the doubt.
I thought about the times I was working a dead end job, trying to believe;
moving through day-to-day with my head down just taking one step at a
time, some small, some big ones, wanting to give up; wanting to stop and
sit for a while; wanting to lay in my sorrow; nobody believing in me;
nobody thinking it would come to pass and never realizing that every step
was taking me closer to higher. That hike was painful, it hurt, but
through it all I was getting higher and had no idea how high I was.
That's what it's like to chase down a dream.

Sometimes in life dreams are hard to follow, like that climb. You don't
know how high you're going or even if you're moving, but every step, even
when you can't see what's behind you, will take you closer to your goals.
It's in the climb. I know you may be struggling right now, but you're in
the climb; things may be hard right now, but you're in the climb; people
may not believe in you, but it's part of the climb. They may take shots
at you, but stay in the climb; you may have to stand alone, but you're in
the climb. Even if you're not where you want to be right now, I want to
say to you what she said to me, "This is the best part, now turn around."
Look how far you've come. God has not brought you this far to leave you.
Stay in the climb.

So thankful for all of you. Be well. CLIMB!"

Tyler Perry


Visit: www.tylerperry.com

I simply loved this letter from Tyler Perry. He does a great job in keeping in touch with his fans and giving updates and always so inspirational!

___________________________________________________________



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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Keeping It 100...being true to yourself!

Don't let what others are doing, being or having distract you from what you're doing! It's amazing what concentration and focus can do, while we certainly live in a world that thrive on distractions, half-truths, gossip and sensationalized news headlines, often about people who haven't done anything, but they're awful famous! Anything to take us away from our lives and desires to worship celebrities who rely on us to build their brands! The worst we feel, the more we spend is the hope of marketers!

Feel good about yourself and do you. Realize that if God wanted us all the same, he surely would have created us in that way. Know that you're different and even weird for a reason, you probably think and act out of the box. You have an inner substance that can often go unrewarded and definitely not celebrited. As a society, we can care less about character and integrity, we are more focused and concentrated on who made Forbes 100 list, first week sales of our favorite artists or ones we hate, the latest celebrity rumors and scandals. Our real time life can be challenging and not as vibrant as our favorite celebrities' seem. Beauty and fashion magazines can make us want to puke, when we see the beautiful people grace the covers and perfectly posed in fashion spreads that we know took a team of beauty professionals to create. Still we feel dissatisfied at our own lot in life, what we already have! In order to feel and look beautiful for the long haul, you have to feel good on the inside and bypass all the forced media of what beauty is or should be. We know this as we watch biopics, documentaries, shows like "Behind The Music"...most declare the depression, aloneness and desperation they experienced at the height of their success. We don't have much compassion for the "poor little rich girl" syndrome because they have what we want, heck, they're rich and famous and often quite beautiful, so what do they have to cry about?  It's biblical that "money answers all things" and it truly can buy you some comfort and freedom, but it can't make you happy in itself!

You have to define yourself, remain true to yourself by keeping it 100...100 percent to the best of your ability in terms of what's right for you, "doing you," your compromise and the necessary concessions you have to make! We women have to separate external factors and demands such as beauty, material possessions, career building and aging from clouding who we really are and true self worth. So feel good as often as you can about yourself. Since we can't single handedly change the worl, we can change our environment, brighten up our surroundings and make each day as special as we can!

"To Thine Own Self Be True" -- William Shakespeare

Janelle Monae pictured above is keeping it 100, by not compromising and taking a convention path musically. She's strikingly beautiful and could have easily given you the music video sex vixen, instead Janelle presents melodic, thought-provoking music and moves that would make James Brown proud! Her current album ARCHANDROD is available in stores now and online!



Visit Janelle Monae's website




Saturday, May 29, 2010

Take Care of Your Skin This Summer...Sun Block Is For Everyone!

Be sure to take care of your skin this summer! Women of color are especially, vulnerable because of the notion that their skin isn't as susceptible to dangerous UV rays from the sun than other women.  This is quite false and a growing number of African American and Asian women are contracting skin cancer in alarming numbers. Due to the fact that when it's finally diagnosed, the cancer has advanced. Early diagnosis is always the best way to eradicate cancer cells. So make sure to use a sun block, regardless of your skin color or type, a SPF 30 is good coverage for most skin types. Wear sun glasses, visors and hats to protect your skin from dangerous rays. Aloe Vera gels and lotions are also good and soothing for sun exposed skin. Make sure your apply sun block to your arms and hands while driving to combat sun exposure and use a good sun block lip balm. With global warming the sun rays are increasingly harmful. Have fun this summer, but keep plenty of sun block with you to not only combat premature aging, but to fight skin cancer diseases such as Melanoma.

Here are some facts from The Skin Care Foundation:

ETHNICITY


•Asian American and African American melanoma patients have a greater tendency than Caucasians to present with advanced disease at time of diagnosis.

•The average annual melanoma rate among Caucasians is about 22 cases per 100,000 people. In comparison, African Americans have an incidence of one case per 100,000 people. However, the overall melanoma survival rate for African Americans is only 77 percent, versus 91 percent for Caucasians.

•While melanoma is uncommon in African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is frequently fatal for these populations.

•Melanomas in African Americans, Asians, Filipinos, Indonesians, and native Hawaiians most often occur on non-exposed skin with less pigment, with up to 60-75 percent of tumors arising on the palms, soles, mucous membranes and nail regions.

•Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in Caucasians, Hispanics, Chinese, and Japanese, and other Asian populations.

•Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common skin cancer among African Americans and Asian Indians.

•Among non-Caucasians, melanoma is a higher risk for children than adults: 6.5 percent of pediatric melanomas occur in non-Caucasians.

For More Visit:
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Saturday, May 1, 2010

Excerpt from upcoming beauty book...

Here's an excerpt from a beauty book I'm writing. Women work so hard and often put others before themselves, at the end of day, we share common bonds that are undeniable!

Beauty From The Inside Out




Energy
(Kindness and Acceptance)

Detachment
(A Window Seat)

Gratitude
(Appreciation and Reciprocity)

Passion
(Fun)

Fulfillment
(Contentment)


a state of mind in which one's desires are confined to his lot whatever it may be (1 Tim. 6:6; 2 Cor. 9:8). the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind.

Godliness with contentment is great gain!

=

BALANCE

Balance is the common denominator that we all share, regardless of our social position in life. It's amazing how much we actually have in common versus our differences. Being beautiful goes beyond the outer and how well we rock the latest fashion and beauty trends or just being a good person. It's understanding what we can't live without and what we can live with while understanding the world around us and our role in this universe. No matter what we amass or don't, "balance" is what none of us can live without!


For more visit...
http://www.fineandfabulousmag.com/



Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Business of Beauty: Pots of Promise

I discovered this article by the Economist some time ago and it still rings true today...


Pots of promise


An industry driven by sexual instinct will always thrive

May 22nd 2003
From The Economist print edition


MEDIEVAL noblewomen swallowed arsenic and dabbed on bats' blood to improve their complexions; 18th-century Americans prized the warm urine of young boys to erase their freckles; Victorian ladies removed their ribs to give themselves a wasp waist. The desire to be beautiful is as old as civilisation, as is the pain that it can cause. In his autobiography, Charles Darwin noted a “universal passion for adornment”, often involving “wonderfully great” suffering.

The pain has not stopped the passion from creating a $160 billion-a-year global industry, encompassing make-up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery, health clubs and diet pills. Americans spend more each year on beauty than they do on education. Such spending is not mere vanity. Being pretty—or just not ugly—confers enormous genetic and social advantages. Attractive people (both men and women) are judged to be more intelligent and better in bed; they earn more, and they are more likely to marry.

Beauty matters most, though, for reproductive success. A study by David Buss, an American scientist, logged the mating preferences of more than 10,000 people across 37 cultures. It found that a woman's physical attractiveness came top or near top of every man's list. Nancy Etcoff, a psychologist and author of “Survival of the Prettiest”, argues that “good looks are a woman's most fungible asset, exchangeable for social position, money, even love. But, dependent on a body that ages, it is an asset that a woman uses or loses.”

Beauty is something that we recognise instinctively. A baby of three months will smile longer at a face judged by adults to be “attractive”. Such beauty signals health and fertility. Long lustrous hair has always been a sign of good health; mascara makes eyes look bigger and younger; blusher and red lipstick mimic signs of sexual arousal. Whatever the culture, relatively light and flawless skin is seen as a testament to both youth and health: partly because skin permanently darkens after pregnancy; partly because light skin makes it harder to hide illness. This has spawned a huge range of creams to treat skin in various ways.

Then again, a curvy body, with big breasts and a waist-to-hip ratio of less than 0.8—Barbie's is 0.54—shows an ideal stage of readiness for conception. Plastic surgery to pad breasts or lift buttocks serves to make a woman look as though she was in her late teens or early 20s: the perfect mate. “Mimicry is the goal of the beauty industry,” says Ms Etcoff.

Basic instinct keeps the beauty industry powerful. In medieval times, recipes for homemade cosmetics were kept in the kitchen right beside those used to feed the family. But it was not until the start of the 20th century, when mass production coincided with mass exposure to an idealised standard of beauty (through photography, magazines and movies) that the industry first took off.
From small roots to big business

In 1909, Eugène Schueller founded the French Harmless Hair Colouring Co, which later became L'Oréal—today's industry leader. Two years later, Paul Beiersdorf, a Hamburg pharmacist, developed the first cream to bind oil and water. Today, it sells in 150 countries as Nivea, the biggest personal-care brand in the world. Around the same time, in Tokyo's upmarket Ginza, Arinobu Fukuhara hit on eudermine lotion—the first Japanese cosmetic based on a scientific formula, and the first product for the Shiseido company.

But it was the great rivalry between two women in America that made the industry what it is today. Elizabeth Arden opened the first modern beauty salon in 1910, followed a few years later by Helena Rubinstein, a Polish immigrant. The two took cosmetics out of household pots and pans and into the modern era. Both thought beauty and health were interlinked. They combined facials with diets and exercise classes in a holistic approach that the industry is now returning to.

Rubinstein considered facelifts (via leather straps and electricity) to be as acceptable as lipstick, while Arden pioneered beauty branding, with her iconic gold and pink packaging. The two women, together with Max Factor (which originally produced make-up for actresses), built the foundations of modern marketing, bewitching consumers with aggressive tactics such as celebrity endorsements and magazine advertorials. In the 1930s they were joined by Revlon, and after the second world war by Estée Lauder. All these companies are still around.

The emerging beauty industry played on the fear of looking ugly as much as on the pleasure of looking beautiful, drawing on the new science of psychology to convince women that an inferiority complex could be cured by a dab of lipstick. Even then, ruthlessness and outright quackery lurked behind the façade. On launching her famous eight-hour cream, developed for her horses, Arden quipped: “I judge a woman and a horse by the same criteria: legs, head and rear end.”

Anything but skin-deep

Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that the global beauty industry—consisting of skin care worth $24 billion; make-up, $18 billion; $38 billion of hair-care products; and $15 billion of perfumes—is growing at up to 7% a year, more than twice the rate of the developed world's GDP. The sector's market leader, L'Oréal, has had compound annual profits growth of 14% for 13 years. Sales of Beiersdorf's Nivea have grown at 14% a year over the same period.

This growth is being driven by richer, ageing baby-boomers and increased discretionary income in the West, and by the growing middle classes in developing countries. China, Russia and South Korea are turning into huge markets. In India, sales of anti-ageing creams are growing by 40% a year, while Brazil has more “Avon Ladies” (900,000) than it has men and women in its army and navy. Although the industry's customers are predominantly women, it is increasingly marketing itself to men too.

The juicy returns are attracting new entrants. The household-goods giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble (P&G), facing maturity in many of their traditional businesses, are devoting more resources to their beauty divisions—as evidenced by P&G's current $6.5 billion offer for Germany's Wella, a hair-care company, to bolster its earlier purchase of Clairol, a hair-dye business. Simon Clift, marketing head of Unilever's personal-care businesses (including its big Dove and Sunsilk brands), says: “We are a Cinderella, seen as a soap-powder company, but we have changed our belief about what we do.
Most luxury-goods groups now have perfume brands, and many (like Dior, Chanel and Yves St Laurent) are selling make-up and creams too. LVMH, the biggest luxury-goods group of all, has moved into retailing with its Bliss spas and Sephora shops (which sell make-up).

At the same time the industry is consolidating. Many innovative younger brands have been swallowed up by the giants. Japan's Kao bought John Frieda to tap into the hair-dye business, one of the fastest-growing segments of the market. And in the past five years, LVMH has bought Hard Candy and Urban Decay, two funky young make-up brands; while Estée Lauder has acquired Stila, MAC and Bobbi Brown, another collection of up-and-coming names in make-up.

Since this burst of transactions, six multinationals account for 80% of American make-up sales, while eight brands control 70% of the skin-care market. With its Nivea brand, Beiersdorf is one of the few large independents left, desired by everyone from P&G and Unilever to L'Oréal.

Science fictions

Unable to outspend their big new rivals, the traditional beauty companies are trying to out-innovate them, by making even more of their scientific credentials. The industry is marketing a new category of products that blurs the line between cosmetics and non-prescription drugs—so called “cosmaceuticals”. L'Oréal's advertisements now stress how many product patents it has filed.

The focus on science has led to some genuinely new ideas, such as face cloths impregnated with cleansers that combine surfactant and paper technology. As yet, though, most of it is pseudo-science. Shiseido's recent international launch of its new Body Creator skin gel claims that its fat-burning pepper and grapefruit oil can melt 1.1kg of body fat in a month without any need to diet or exercise. At last year's launch in Japan, customers bought a bottle every 3.75 seconds.

Avon's chief executive, Andrea Jung, expects Cellu-Sculpt, a new cream that claims to take an inch off your thighs in four weeks, to sell three times as much as an ordinary body cream in its first six weeks. P&G is also playing the game. It is busy plugging the science behind its newest cream, Olay Regenerist, and it has built Pantene into the world's biggest hair-care brand on the basis of its “pro-vitamin B” ingredient. But a report by Britain's Which? magazine recently pointed out that vitamins need to be ingested to work, and that a Pantene shampoo it tested was no better than a supermarket's own brand.

That is hardly surprising: Jacques-Franck Dossin, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, says that beauty firms spend just 2-3% of their sales on research & development—compared with 15% by the pharmaceuticals industry. On the other hand, they spend a whopping 20-25% on advertising and promotion. Some of that money has been well spent. L'Oréal's “Because I'm worth it” tag-line has long been a huge success. And new companies like Pout are attracting attention with lipsticks labelled “Lick my lolly” and “Bite my cherry”.

Nevertheless, marketing is becoming hugely expensive, putting pressure on margins. Goldman's Mr Dossin worries that, in response to intensifying competition and consolidation, L'Oréal has recently cranked up its spending on marketing, forcing an advertising war with rivals that will end up undermining everyone's profitability. Scott Beattie, Elizabeth Arden's boss, says that its marketing budget, which grew by 25% in 2002, will rise by another 40% this year. Avon plans to hike its advertising budget by 50%.

This competition has left some exhausted. Revlon, once one of the biggest make-up brands, has been tottering on the edge of bankruptcy. Its current boss, Jack Stahl, a former president of Coca-Cola, is fighting to get the business back on track. Unilever, which is facing slowing growth overall, is stranded in no-man's-land. It sold the great Elizabeth Arden brand and missed out on the boom in hair colour. Critics say it should now sell its remaining beauty business to a more focused group, such as Elizabeth Arden. Meanwhile P&G, seen as the first serious threat to L'Oréal for decades, is struggling with its $5 billion acquisition of Clairol. It has been losing market share at an alarming rate to both the French and to Kao's John Frieda.

Changes in distribution are also helping to separate the winners from the losers. The only real growth is coming through huge grocery chains such as Wal-Mart that want to deal with just a handful of big suppliers. That is good news for P&G and L'Oréal (which already gains two-thirds of its revenues from mass retailers). But Estée Lauder and Revlon are more dependent on unfashionable department stores where sales are declining and selling costs are high. Estée Lauder's chief executive, Fred Langhammer, bravely preaches the virtues of department stores: “People will always need advice about what skin cream to use,” he says. But he is wisely hedging his bets by buying fun specialist retailers, such as MAC.



Body rebuilding and refitting

Two potentially lucrative markets are being all but ignored by the traditional beauty companies. The first is cosmetic surgery, already a $20 billion business, which has been growing and innovating by leaps and bounds. The number of cosmetic procedures have increased in America by over 220% since 1997. Old favourites, such as liposuction, breast implants and nose jobs, are being overtaken by botox injections to freeze the facial muscles that cause wrinkles. With the number of these up by more than 2,400% since 1997, botox injections have become the most common procedure of all.

The newest lines are bottom implants, fat inserts to plump up ageing hands, and fillers like Restylane and Perlane for facial wrinkles. Cosmetic dentistry is also a booming business. Jeff Golub, Manhattan dentist to stars like Kim Catrall of “Sex and the City”, dubs himself a “smile designer”. “We are able to create all sorts of illusions,” he says. “The smile has become a fashion statement.” Tooth whitening is the botox of the cosmetic dentistry business.

What used to be the preserve of actresses and celebrities has become safer and more affordable. Alan Matarasso, one of America's leading plastic surgeons, says: “Ten years ago you could reconstruct a woman's breasts for $12,000—now it can be done for $600.” Drooping prices have helped cosmetic surgery to move into the mainstream. More than 70% of those who come under the knife now earn less than $50,000 a year.

The second big new market is in “well-being”—whole treatment systems that cover beauty, exercise and diet, including visits to spas, salons and clubs, and hark back to the early days of Mesdames Arden and Rubinstein. People are increasingly seeking natural cures rather than turning to chemicals, and an emphasis on being fit—not just thin—is growing in popularity. The trend is being led by a list of celebrities. Avon's boss, Andrea Jung, says modern beauty has been “redefined as health, self esteem and empowerment.”

Beauty firms are falling over themselves to sell products with new-age promise—Arden has a range of products called “Happy”, Avon sells diet bars, and L'Oréal owns a few spas. However, it has been left largely to entrepreneurs like American cosmetic surgeon Stephen Greenberg to offer real innovations. His “extreme make-overs” combine cosmetic surgery, a personal trainer for your body, and an image consultant for your face and hair. The traditional beauty companies have yet to grasp the opportunities in these rapidly growing and fragmented markets.

A slap in the face?

At the same time, the beauty business needs to guard against a growing consumer backlash. Like those facing the tobacco and food industries, this has two elements. The first concerns truth in advertising. Creams and cosmetics are making increasingly extravagant marketing claims. So far, women have been willing to buy into the illusion. Should that change (and there are signs it might), then manufacturers expose themselves to potentially ruinous litigation.

Second, there is a moral dimension. The beauty industry is at a stage where it can permanently change a person's looks. Given advances in genetic engineering and the competitive drive, a race for beauty is conceivable in which people will strive to model themselves on some form of idealised human being. By selling the weapons to win this war, the industry may find itself roundly condemned and subject to legislation.

Public handwringing is already evident in the case of teenagers indulging in cosmetic surgery. In “Branded”, a book on marketing to teenagers, Alissa Quart notes that in America the number of teenage breast implants and liposuctions rose by 562% between 1994 and 2001. There is a cynical marketing phrase for all this: helping “kids look older younger”. A number of new books have begun to question the ethics of marketing beauty products and services to adults too.

Part of the backlash so far is tighter regulation. Europe recently passed new labelling and animal-testing laws on cosmetics and will soon give the public the right to probe how firms create cosmetics. This is sure to raise costs for the industry worldwide. Much of the concern, however, is misdirected. Compared with the lead or belladonna that once gave women gothic dreamy eyes, today's lotions are relatively harmless, and consumers are well informed. Cosmetic-surgery techniques are improving—liposuction using electrically vibrating rods, not manual jabbing, still sounds horrible, but it is safer. Worries about newish procedures such as botox look overdone too—the stuff has been around for a decade as a medical treatment. Even silicone breast implants may be back on the market soon, after improvements in technology.

The fact is that neither moral censure nor fears about safety will stop people from wanting to look better. The desire is too entrenched. An 18th-century British law proposing to allow husbands to annul marriages to wives who had trapped them with “scents, paints, artificial teeth, false hair and iron stays”, had no effect on women, who continued to clamour for the latest French skin creams. During the second world war, the American government had to reverse a decision to remove lipstick from its list of essential commodities in order to prevent a rebellion by female war workers. The beauty business—the selling of “hope in a jar”, as Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, once called it—is as permanent as its effects are ephemeral.

Check out the Economist for a global news perspective http://www.economist.com/

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Is anybody for real... authentic...Is Monica's Breakup, a publicity stunt?

I have to say that I'm just finished with wanting people to be what I think they ought to be, my error! I used to get really frustrated with people not being authentic and having integrity. I'm still caught off-guard with people and their actions that clearly depict a person in caos, who's self-sabotaging. I live in a big city, Chicago and it's cold here, not always just the winter weather, but the people can be because it's historically, a segregated city with pockets of diversity. It creates alienation and elitism...bottom line, separation and feeling less than for many. You can't be your authentic self looking down on others or shrinking because of your material net worth.

 As I read the blogs and see singer Monica is going through a break-up and some people saying it's a publicity stunt or the unkind words and thoughts thrown her way is disturbing. There seems to be a lack of compassion and empathy in this world. In my everyday life and travels, I see it in people, how cold they are and the anger. Either people are overly-ambitious and will stop at nothing to get what they want or others are hating the world because they're not pursuing their dreams or feel it's hopeless to even try and hate others who think differently! So we wear masks to conceal our real idenity and intent and the internet is an outlet for us simply be ourselves.

Wyclef is on the internet again, this it's about an allege mistress that his YELE organization paid $100,000 to perform as Program Director, it's disheartening if it's true!  Where's the integrity? In our everyday lives, where's the integrity, even when no one is looking? It's easier to be honest with ourselves in the long run because the emptiness of lies and deception catches up with us and our ill-actions haunt us, even while the sun is shining down on us. With pop culture governing our lives, reality TV, instant celebrity status for just about anyone, YouTube singing sensations, music that doesn't say much and allows sex to sell it, all of it isn't bad, but not much of it is good either!

More of us have to find a way to be honest, authentic, true people! We must celebrate character and the ability to tell the truth and award kindness, not just Forbes wealthiest people in the world and our celebrities. Allow the driver to pass who's sitting in traffic, open the door and allow the other person to go through first, permit the person talking to finish their sentence and thought, don't be afraid to accept help and express gratitude, learn to receive and not just take, put aside private agendas and do the right thing more times than not, believe there's enough for everyone, be wise, but be kind and generous on a multitude of levels!

For More Visit: http://www.fineandfabulousmag.com/

Lady Gaga's Telephone Video - featuring Beyonce...Is It Wack or Art?




Well, there's been an incredible buzz with Lady Gaga's latest music video "Telephone" featuring Beyonce! It's Gaga for sure and both ladies do a good job in this campy, Quentin Tarrantino-inspired video, but what are the messages they're sending? The violence is over the top and totally unneeded. This is for adults, healthy individuals, but that won't always be the case. The kids are going to heavily consume this video with the poisoning, fights and partial nudity, it doesn't send a good message. I can understand some defending this as art, while some say it's wack and disgusting.  To make sure it gets airplay, they added a sizable amount of product placement from Diet Coke to Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip to Virgin Phone. Now who's going to turn down what would total millions of dollars of free advertising! Lady Gaga is a revamped version of Madonna and Irish artist, Roisin Murphy, not as original as I initially thought. Knowing what's going on with our young people is my real concern, the suicide rates, campus shootings, inner city blues, this isn't the way to sell records. The video would have been still very good without the violence. I get it's a take-off on Tarrantino films, but it's exploitation! If it takes all of this to create a buzz and make what some will call "epic"...a much over-used word, like diva, then is it worth it? Can't artists create original music anymore, their own  swagger infused with yesterday, without straight out duplicating, make cutting-edge videos without appealing to our lowest nature? There seems to be no end in sight for what artists will do to sell music and at who's expense?

For More Visit: http://www.fineandfabulousmag.com/