Film: Red Tails (coming in 2012)

Here is a first look at RED TAILS written by George Lucas and John Ridley and directed by Anthony Hemingway. It's Lucasfilms' production of the story of the Tuskegee Airman--the first black pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.

Fashion: Gimmie 5 (V) on the black hand side!

Peace pulsers! Its your favorite sneaker heads favorite sneaker head! Bringing you another installment of "shoeology". This week I'm taking it back to 1990- the first time ever release of the Air Jordan 5 (V), a truley unique design from the great Tinker Hatfield! And one of this years rarest drops! With a design highly influenced by the WW2 mustang fighter plane and the most obvious elements displaying this are the shark teeth shapes on the mid soles. Making a return is the metallic silver 23 on the heel. Last time these where released was in 1999 minus the 23, making these a very high demand sneaker. With a retail price of 150$ expect to pay upwards of 200$. Release is schedule for Aug 20th. I know the glue hasn't finish drying yet but crack that piggy bank open cause you definitely don't wanna be the only one who didn't get them.

Film: The Red Balloon (1956)

If you enjoy short films or you've thought about writing/making your own short film, a great short film to see, before you embark on your own script or production, is the multi-award winning French film, THE RED BALLOON (1956) written and directed by Albert Lamorisse and starring his son, Pascal. (RT 32 mins)

Simply put, the film follows a red balloon that follows a boy around Paris.

In contrast to the verbosity of today's motion pictures, there's almost no dialogue in the film, which went on to win the Academy Award for best screenplay! THE RED BALLOON is a classic, must-see cinematic fantasy.

Trailer here.

Fashion: Swizz Beatz x Reebok Kamikaze

In mid May, we received our first look at the next offering from the Swizz Beatz x Reebok collaboration. New detailed photos of the Swizz Beatz x Reebok Kamikaze Grey/Sonic Green and Black/Orange have surfaced on the web. One pair features multiple shades of grey on the upper with minimal Sonic Green hints on the sole, inner lining and tongue branding. The other pair is comprised of black and white leather/suede on the base with minimal orange elements.

Fashion: Back to The Future!

Peace pulsers and pig pockets! Your favorite sneakerhead bringing you what's hot on the feet in the street! The cross between retro and future styling, Marty Mcfly would be proud to rock with his acid wash Lee's! The new 2011 Hyperfuse are the perfect combination of ventilation and lightweight materials. Worn by Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics! Crafted from the same three layer fuse material that made them an advance basketball shoe to begin with, Nike is determined to make this shoe an icon with the release of many different color-ways! Not only are they lightweight but light on the pockets at only 100$ pick yours up at hot sneaker spots like City Footwear! (845)343-3430 say purse and pulse and receive a free gift!

Music: Monica: Honeymoon, New Single and Drama

There's been a lot of talk lately about Monica in the media... both good and bad. Congrats are in order for Monica and her husband Shannon Brown who recently celebrated their nuptials in a lavish ceremony (although, they have already been legally married since late last year).

Monica also recently dropped some new music. The single "Anything (To Find You)" was produced by Missy Elliott and features Lil Kim and Rick Ross. However, with the good also comes some bad news. Mo's new single features a Notorious BIG sample and Biggie's mother, who owns the rights to his collection, does not want the record released with Lil Kim on it. SO you may hear a few versions of the song in the coming weeks, without Lil Kim.

Monica actually took some time while on her Honeymoon (which I hear was a surprise gift from Monica's fam Ludacris) and tweeted letting her fans know they are trying hard to work things out. She mentioned that she has a lot of love for Lil Kim and the utmost respect for Volletta Wallace and hopes they can release the song in it's original form.

For all the Monica fans out there.. take a listen to the original record and leave your thoughts and comments.

Beauty: Protect Thy Pretty

Tocca Stella SPF 30 + Sunscreen Towelettes! Tote a 10-pack of these water and perspiration resistant wipes in your hand bag or beach bag. You can use them in any scenario that puts you in direct sunlight. Not only will you protect your face with SPF, but the wipes are blood-orange scented for an added bonus.

Credit: BeautyNewsNyc.com

Film: (Foreign) A Vampire Classic

If you like vampire films and TV shows, but you are looking for something a little different than the likes of TRUE BLOOD, take a look at the Swedish film, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008) directed by Tomas Alfredson.

I could give you a link to a trailer, but I really think you'd enjoy it more without seeing anything about it before hand. Just get it.

My 3 Cents

1. Create your own Tea Party

Expand your world and go to sea! No, really drown yourself in a world of adventures. The Map? The desires of your heart.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”- Mark Twain

2. Laugh like a Hyena while making funny faces in the mirror too

“Humor and laughter are amazing tools. They can turn any serious situation into something to laugh about. They can lighten the mood just about anywhere.”- Mark Twain

3. You are who you say You are

You can be anything you want to be. You can be many things. Ive been a Model, TV host, alto-Saxophone Player, Fashion Designer, Teacher, Actress, Personal Assistant, Production Assistant, Store Owner, and I started when I was 15yrs old. There’s no such thing as being to old or to young.

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not taking risks, and that means you’re not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win.

– John W. Holt, Jr.

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”- Mark Twain

Just My 3 Cents.... Stay Pretty

THE QUEEN OF GREENS FAVORITE BUSINESS MEETING

During an interview I was asked what was my favorite meeting and hands down it was with Russell Simmons. So here is how it starts, well my communications manager at the time knew someone who worked in his office and they set up the meeting for me. So a day before the meeting my communications manager hit me with this bogus contract with sketchy fine print, which hurt me deeply. In short after letting my lawyer look over it she advises against signing the contract which made my communications manager upset. She says that if I don’t sign the contract then I don’t go to the meeting, cold, huh! Anyway I am the architect of my reality and I know what will be will be, all that to say I called his office and inquired about the meeting, they said it was still on so being the wizard that I am I changed the date of the meeting and notified them about the sudden switch in communication mangers. It gets deep, my godmother flies in from ATLANTA to go with me to the meeting, we drive up to NYC and when we get there they say he is running behind and if they could push it back two hours. wheeew, this was perfect for me since I needed time to print some stuff out at the Kinkos next door to the office. Im crusin' and all of a sudden I get a call from Sagen saying they needed to reschedule days. Oh no, I said, I am coming up, lol! My ride up the elevator was even magical, a principal from DC named Dr. Rutherford accompanying him was a smashing woman from bethesda, her name escapes me but on with the story we joked and laughed on the way up. They were his meeting that he was trying to bump me off the schedule for but he had no idea who he was really about to come face to face with. Once I got in the main office I was asked to come back to Simone's office where she asked me how did you even get this meeting. I was like, uh, well, ummm it was scheduled, Im not sure exactly what I said but she said you have 5 mins. and walks me back to his office, I was sweating bullets but remembering to breathe and allow things to flow. I walk in and he is pleasantly surprised, I give him a hug and asked him if he was hungry, it didnt matter if he was or not, I began opening my cute purple rolling bag taking out a gorgeous little table cloth, placing silverware in its proper place. I then, begin plating my famous Mango Kale Salad with topped with crisp wonton strips, hoisin hen of the wood mushrooms on a bed of organic spinach served with my Goddess dressing. I also pull out some hand crafted herbal tonics from my god parents company THE FORGOTTEN FOODS, REMEMBERED. Sagen walks in to try and dismiss me and he says no, bring in Dr. Rutherford he should meet her. Im so boosted, smiles everywhere! We chatted it up for about a half an hour until I decided to excuse myself as an attempt to be polite & respectful to Dr. Rutherfords initial purpose for coming from DC as well to meet with the ever so popular Russell Simmons. A couple weeks later Stan Lathan gives me a call and the rest is history in the making!

Fashion: You thought i was Done? JUST★DON® for RSVP Gallery

JUST★DON® for RSVP Gallery from RSVP Gallery on Vimeo.

Fashion: Don C’s Custom Snake Skin Adjustable Hat

Kanye West’s road manager Don C is now Designing custom snakeskin adjustable hat that Kanye & Jay Z wears. The Mitchell & Ness Chicago Bulls hat features snakeskin on the brim and adjustable strap. If you look closely, there is no “snap back,” but Don C most likely used a standard snapback hat and customized it with a gold buckle and used snakeskin as the adjustable strap. There has been no official word from Don C about the custom hat, but he did post a piece of cut-up snakeskin on his Tumblr several weeks back, and followed up today with a photo of a Milwaukee Bucks hat — also customized with snakeskin. It’s unknown if these will be for sale, but if they do hit shelves, count on it to be sold at Don C’s Chicago retail store RSVP Gallery.

Music: Introducing: Shaliek Rivers

Introducing - Shaliek Rivers.

The name might sound unfamiliar to some of you but Rivers has been in the music business for a while and has paid his dues. Heavily influenced by Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder, among others, Shaliek's vocal range and presence has garnered him the honors of having performed with the legendary James Brown and winning not once, but several times on Showtime at The Apollo.

Shaliek has written with some of the best in the business. He's collaborated with B Cox, Alicia Key's, The Underdogs and countless other hit makers. Rivers is currently finishing work on his new, forth coming debut album.

Take a listen to Shaliek River's brand new single, "The Perfect Storm". Also follow Shaliek on Twitter @shaliekrivers.

(Link)

Beauty: Beware of Outdated Makeup

Film: Tree of Life (2011)

Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ follows Jack O’Brien (Sean Penn) at two stages of life. He is presented as a young boy growing up in a Texas home with his family, and also as an older and disillusioned man. Through his younger years, the film tells Jack’s story of silent rage. This anger stems from an abusive and dismissive father (Brad Pitt) who feels self-failure and a submissive mother (Jessica Chastain) who is walked over. Through his first steps toward rebellion, violent experimentation, young Jack stands on the fringes of manhood and childhood. Flashes forward display an older Jack with a silent and distant marriage, regret for his lost relationship with his father, and long-held grief for his young brother’s death.

The films central symbol, The Tree of Life is displayed consistently, subliminally and artistically throughout. The tree outside of Jack’s office reminds him of his brother as well as the tree the family plays on in the younger scenes are the few times we see a happy family picture. Long scenes of the Big Bang and birth of earth’s nature with existential voice overs by Jack appear long and irrelevant, but in fact ad a great deal to the crux of the film’s message.

Terrence Malick expresses themes of grief, death, regret, love, jealousy, and deeply hidden insecurities. The film comments on the long lasting emotions which stay with families and are not healed. It relates these themes to nature and survival. Jack’s mother embodies a type of mother Mary, a calm and angel like figure while Brad Pitt seems to be an ominous obstacle. Mrs. O’Brien symbolizes nature and abstraction, but does not hold any grounding or self-security. Mr. O’Brien is portrayed as orderly and strong, when in fact he is weak and transient in the face of love.

With close-ups which depict nature and destruction in such detail and definition at points in the film, the audience can see how large issues which haunt families and tear lives apart seem to be microscopic, irrelevant, and part of the natural cycle and order of life when zoomed out to a bird’s eye view.

How does life seem, all the biggest issues and problems, from ten feet away, from ten days away, from thousands of miles away, from years away, from space's view, and from touching up close? Are all the patterns of life, the cycles of emotions and events, comparable to the way of nature?