Artist, Mother, Wife, TV personality, and entrepreneur are only a few titles that Mel B also known as Scary Spice holds. Tonight her reality show “Mel B: It’s a Scary World” will be premiering on the style network at 9pm. Viewers will get to know Mel’s husband, Stephen Belafonte, and her two adorable daughters, Angel (3) and Phoenix (11), both from prior relationships.  Style will follow Mel as she juggles it all and focuses on family, career and the many new opportunities that lie ahead.

The season premiere dives immediately into the 24/7 frenzy that is a regular part of Mel B’s world. Mel is presented with an opportunity to perform in Los Angeles with the dance ensemble Pussycat Dolls.  Despite being in great shape and at the top of her game, she worries that she might be getting too old to shake her booty in front of crowds.  Later in the episode, Mel is surprised when her whole family receives an invitation to attend the “Shrek 4″ premiere. 

Known for always speaking his mind, he touched topics such as the media dehumanizing him and the MTV fiasco with him interrupting Taylor Swift. I must say that although his actions on the awards raised eyebrows, including mine, I never viewed Kanye negatively.

Many people wrote him off at that very moment as we watched the beginning of a media massacre. Let’s be honest, how many people were aware of who Taylor Swift was before the Kanye stunt?

I  knew of  her, but her popularity overall, increased after that. She completely benefited from it, minus the humiliation. I sympathized with her, and Kanye as well.

I’m not trying to make excuses for him but it didn’t take long for people to overlook his talent and focus on his mistake. Looking at his tweets from this morning, it seems he has had a few slices of humble pie.

“@kanyewest: Man I love Twitter… I’ve always been at the mercy of the press but no more… The media tried to demonize me”

“@kanyewest: Some people’s truth is Kanye is racist… It’s not my truth but I do believe it’s my Karma…. walk with me…”

“@kanyewest: With the help of strong will, a lack of impathy, a lil alcohol and extremely distasteful & bad timing … I became George Bush over night”

“@kanyewest: I have a mission in life to bring truth and beauty through my music and the visuals that anchor around it”

“@kanyewest: …taking a 15 second blip the mdeia have successfully painted the image of the “ANGRY BLACK MAN’ The King Kong theory”

“@kanyewest: Yes I was that guy. A 32 year old child.”

“@kanyewest: Beyonce didn’t need that. MTV didn’t need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn’t want or need that.”

“@kanyewest: MTV? JAY LENO? BEYONCE? ALL FORMS OF MEDIA? TAYLOR? KANYE WEST? Who gained? Who lost?”

“@kanyewest: Walk with me people… let’s break this down for real now. I might get in trouble again lol?”

With the 2010 VMA’s a week away it seems as though Kanye is about a year late with his apology. However, isn’t it always better late than never?

]]> http://www.socialtikmag.com/kanyewest-proves-hes-no-monster/feed/ 0 http://www.socialtikmag.com/is-lanvin-next-for-hm/ http://www.socialtikmag.com/is-lanvin-next-for-hm/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:50:12 +0000 Keshia Ellis http://www.socialtikmag.com/?p=4225 H&M will not be making an official announcement about their next collaboration until September 9, but WWD has speculated today that it will be French fashion house Lanvin and Creative director Alber Elbaz.

H&M has posted several teaser videos on their Facebook and Youtube pages with quotes from the next designer they will collaborate with. Here are a few of the quotes that are assumed to be from Elbaz:

“With design we are actually dealing with real and surreal, with surreal and real, with fantasy and a dream, dream and fantasy. The mix of the two, I think, is the essence of design. It’s this emotional and rational, both at the same time.”

“I think it’s actually really important today to be relevant, not cool. Because once cool, then cold. So ‘relevant,’ I find it quite important. I also think, as a designer, my biggest fear is actually to run out of ideas.”

“Smart women are so beautiful. I think they are the most beautiful to me. I also think that men and women that are comfortable within their own skin are gorgeous.”

“The most interesting part, for me, personally, in this collaboration was meeting the men and women at H&M, the people behind the label. It was quite fabulous to see that we actually share the same speed in fashion: fast, fast, fast, fast, fast.”

“This collection is very melodramatic. Very, very melodramatic. It’s actually very emotional, very funny, very us.”

In the past, H&M has collabrated with other big named designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Jimmy Choo, and Sonia Rykiel.

Mr. Alber Elbaz has worked with Cameron Diaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Kruger. So will Lanvin be the next to collaborated with H&M? I guess we have to wait a few more days until we find out.

Are you too tired to have sex? Or feeling too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Well increased physical activity to the rescue.

Regular physical activity can leave you feeling energized and looking better, which may have a positive effect on your sex life. But there’s more to it than that. Regular physical activity can lead to enhanced arousal for women. Men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don’t exercise — especially as they get older.

So making exercise a stimulating part of your everyday life…. literally stimulates your everyday life.

Although most resumes include all of these pertinent details, each one will not guarantee you an interview. Companies are receiving a vast amount of resumes daily; and to ensure that your resume shines out in the stack, proper formatting must be followed to ensure that it receives attention from human resources representatives.

There are several types of resume formats out there. Choosing the right one will allow you to appeal to a company which will ultimately lead to an interview, which hopefully will lead to a new position. Restructuring your resume can get you the job you want while using the skills and experience you already have.

Below are a few formats that you can use to highlight your successes:

Chronological Resume Format

A chronological resume usually begins by listing your work history, preferably beginning with your most recent position. “The way to maximize your resume is to see it as a marketing document,” says Catherine Jewell, author of New Resume New Career. “Remember the resumes’ purpose: to get an interview. A great resume gets an interview; a great interview gets a job.” The traditional chronological format may be your best choice if most/all of your experience has been in one field, you have no large employment gaps, and/or you plan to stay in the same field.

Recruiters tend to like this format because it is easy to read and demonstrates skill and career growth. Conservative career seekers should utilize this type as well.

Functional Resume Format

These resumes are perfect for individuals who may not have much work experience, varied work experience or experience in a completely different field other than the one which you are currently applying for. Rather than work experience, this format focuses on skills and overall experience. This is often used by individuals who are looking to change careers and/or for individuals who may have gaps in their employment history.

Job seekers who utilize this format typically organize their information in skills and function clusters. In a purely functional resume, company names, employment dates, and position titles are intentionally omitted. The functional resume can work for individuals returning to the workforce or for new graduates entering the job market. As convenient as this format may be, most employers do not prefer it.

Combination/Chrono-Functional Resume Format

A combination resume lists your skills and experience first. Your employment history is listed next. With this type of resume you can highlight the skills you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for, and also provide the chronological work history that employers prefer.

However, the work history section only includes job title, name of employer, location, and dates of employment. It is not necessary to list work details because they are noted in the functional section. This style of resume highlights accomplishments that may otherwise be ignored under work detail area. If you are open to more than one career field, this may work best for you. Additionally, with the functional skills listed at the top, it is very convenient to move around those skills depending on the position that is being applied for.

While this format is more acceptable than the function format, it is often difficult to comprehend for traditional company recruiters. Some employers like to know what you did and if you have grown in each position.

Targeted Resume Format

This format is used for individuals who are looking to attract attention from a specific company or organization. The skills and experience are vital to the position that you are applying for. Thus, if you are applying for more than one company, you may have to switch up your resume so that it caters perfectly to each company respectively. This requires extra work, but the benefit of obtaining an interview will prove to be worth it.

A lot of time, patience, and effort must be put into developing the perfect resume. Each of these formats cater to a different person but some of the characteristics from each can be combined if the details are given proper observation.

For some job-seekers, this process may result in both a chronological resume and chrono-functional resume. For others, it may simply be the traditional format. Whatever you decide, be sure that it highlights the best in you. Be truthful, factual, and competent so that you can obtain an interview and the job.

Although everyone in your work place may have their own goals and agendas, it may be impossible to accomplish everything on your own. One of my favorite quotes is, “We are not in-dependent of one another, we are inter-dependent of each other.”

As you grow in life, you will find out that the people you work with are like the basketball and football teams from your high school and college days; all players must work together in order to win.

Take a moment to decide which position you play. Are you the point guard, shooting guard, small forward, center or the power guard? Once you establish your role, it will be easier for you to develop your strengths and skills. Next, you must play your position in order to steadily rise to the top and become the MVP!

Here are some power moves to guide you on your road to success:

Treat every task the same:

Be the person in the office who is not afraid to do things that are not in your contract. For example, I have worked with a manager who was not afraid to roll up her sleeves up and clean up the building when the janitor was on vacation. This showed me that my manager did not believe that any task was below her and through her efforts, it helped the rest of the company forge the same mindset. While this situation is not typical, make sure you have this attitude at any work environment you are in. Put your pride to the side and be the person who doesn’t mind going the distance to get things done, no matter how small or big the task.

Go above and beyond:

Be the over achiever! Be efficient and detailed in everything that you do. Going above and beyond is doing more than the assignment that was given to you. Bring forth fresh and innovative ideas to the table and be sure to be extremely detailed oriented and provide superior results. Doing so makes you stand out from the crowd. You have two choices: You can either be part of the masses who think the average is acceptable, or you can break away and show off your stuff.

Ditch the clique:

We spend more time with our co-workers than our family. So, it is natural that strong friendships will occur. While this can bring teams together, it can also tear them apart. Overall, cliques divide the office and bring more drama to the daily grind. Instead, be the person who gets along with everyone in the office. This can hinder your chances of moving up because your superiors will identify you by whom you associate yourself with. Limiting your interaction in the workplace to a few select people at the expense of others, can be extremely destructive to your professional image and have a career-limiting effect.

Keep your eye on the prize:

Stay focused! Whatever situations that you are faced with, don’t forget what you are working toward. This will help you eliminate and avoid negative hindrances that may come your way. Use problems as platforms to keep pursuing your dreams. Always set goals for yourself and for your team, so you can map out a way to achieve them. With goals, you have something to work toward, something you can accomplish. Accomplishing that goal or even taking a small step toward that goal will offer a euphoric feeling of success like no other.

Your road to success is a journey that you can’t achieve alone. Be the team player in your career endeavors and watch yourself and your team move up the ladder in no time!

It’s already hard to encourage  female youth to use their brains instead of  their bodies to get ahead, but the sex tape release phenomena has made it more difficult. I‘ve joked with my friends on numerous occasions about making a sex tape so I can get endorsements, TV shows, and magazine spreads like Kim Kardashian, however, it has remained a joke. Although her last name was famous enough on its own, Paris Hilton also garnered more cash and fame after her debut movie “One Night in Paris.”

Who knew Montana Fishburne would take heed to this career path? I didn’t. Not only because I didn’t know who she was until her porn star aspirations became public, but she’s the daughter of acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne. Montana openly shouts out Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton as her inspirations for her film debut.  Montana isn’t the only Gen Y female that will use her body to get her career started faster than others.

CanDoBetter.com surveyed 2800 of their online members, which consists of Gen Y males and females, to see where their “heads” were at and the results were surprising to say the least.

• 64% of women said they WOULD make a sex tape or take nude photos to break into a career.
• 42% of men said they WOULD make a sex tape public to get a promotion or beak in their career.
• 74% of men and women AGREE with Montana Fishburne and would take the route she has.
• 58% of men WOULD buy their boss an expensive gift to get ahead
• 36% of woman WOULD blackmail a co-worker or boss to get ahead
• 45% of women WOULD sleep with their teacher to pass a class.

I cant even pretend that I expected to see these numbers so high, but then again, our generation does have a “By any means necessary mentality.” I’m in no predicament to cast judgment, but there are so many alternatives we could use to get what we want in life.

Nobody ever said brains can’t have beauty, but it’s a little alarming when the beauty is traded for booty.

Elie Tahari is one of the biggest brands at Saks, so having more space for his collection was ideal and befitting. Mr Tahari said, “We’ve been doing business with Saks for over 30 years, and building a shop front and center is a major accomplishment.”

I decided to take a visit to Saks to see the new Elie Tahari shop and I was very impressed. The shop is located on the fourth floor and there was plenty of room for shopping.

The shop was not flooded with a sea of clothing,  but things were actually spread out so that customers could view almost everything in the shop with ease. There were also seating area where shoppers or boyfriends and husbands could sit and read fashion books that were nicely placed on coffee tables.

It was also nice to  see Elie Tahari shoe collection in the shop. Not only did the store look amazing, but sales people were friendly and the customer service was phenomenal.

Elie Tahari and Saks chose a good time to open this beautiful shop with fashion week and Fashion Night Out only two weeks away. Going to the Elie Tahari shop at Saks  just made more anticipation for Mr. Tahari’s collection to go down the runway for fashion week.

I advise everyone to go to Saks and take a look at the new shop.

Feel free to visit www.ericsosa.com to hear some of my latest work.

Here we go…

R&B

Aaliyah – Are You That Somebody Official Video

Nine years ago yesterday, this young lady died in a tragic plane crash. I remember being on vacation in South America and receiving a phone call telling me Aaliyah died. I don’t know if it was because she was so young (22) or simply because her career was so young, but I remember it hitting me as if I knew her personally.

With that said, it’s only right that I start this off with “Are You That Somebody.” I usually don’t like soundtrack (Dr. Dolittle) music videos. (They’re cheesy to me, but I must say this one was pretty dope.)

Now is it just me or did she have a thing for motorcycles? She has at least one in just about all her videos.

I like the whole futuristic bat cave theme. One thing that always stood out in this video was her singing with a hawk on her arm. The choreography is dope as well. I remember being hyped when my sister and I realized she had the same sneakers as Aaliyah did.

Aaliyah helped open the door for women to wear boxers, dress baggy and still be sexy. Now I’m an R&B head and there are so many more joints to choose from, but today… this is my favorite R&B music video.

Hip Hop

LL Cool J “Doin’ It”

From Farmers Blvd to Sunrise Cinema, LL Cool J never failed to represent Queens in his music videos. So for that, today my favorite Hip Hop video is “Doin’ It.”

The first time I saw this video I was around 8 years old. My sister and I always watched music videos in the morning before going to school, when my pops suddenly walked in the room spazzinn’ because he thought we were watching soft porn. Then again, this just might be the sexiest Hip Hop record of all time. The way he arranged the song to be a conversation with a female that not only wasn’t famous, but wasn’t a rapper either, was innovative.

I also remember making a big deal over the cordless phone he uses in the “all white room” scene, because it was the EXACT same cordless house phone we had.

The combination of colors in the scene where he’s eating an apple and enjoying the peep show is sick. They played with sexual innuendos by panning across the word “cock” in cocktail on the Junior’s Cheescake storefront.  Also, seeing him rock a hard hat in the bedroom added comic relief.

Man it’s just a dope video… Queens!

Rock

Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity

My favorite Rock video is “Virtual Insanity,” by Jamiroquai. I know I know. Most of you are probably saying, “WTF? This ain’t Rock?!” Although Jamiroquai falls under genres like acid jazz and funk, this song charted on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. As if the visual of him dancing in an asylum that could easily double as a lounge wasn’t enough, the moving floor adds to the crazy cool environment. From the outfit that’s like Mad Hatter meets 80’s Hip Hop, the random animals, the spilt wine (Or is it blood?) you will be lost in his Virtual Insanity. Sheer Rock genius.

Techno

Daft Punk – Burnin’

“Burnin,’” by Daft Punk is my favorite Techno video. From the push of a button, this song alone builds some sort of anxiety. I love how the video displays the boy’s imagination, from playing with a toy fire truck at a backyard barbeque, to being a firefighter trying to put out a “fire” in a penthouse. I can’t tell if it’s his imagination or if it could be a flash forward. Still, the mixture of styles, races and ages partying in the penthouse is always dope.

Listen to my version of “Burnin’” titled “Nonbeliever” on www.ericsosa.com (music/ promo singles)

Pop

Madonna – Vogue

I love Hip Hop, but being that fashion is my mistress, it’s only right that I choose “Vogue” by Madonna for my favorite Pop video. I think it’s safe to say that Madonna changed the world of runway with this song. I feel like the whole black and white effect in music videos has been exhausted, but this one seems to be paying homage to the glamour of the 40’s and 50’s. Between the props and the wardrobe, I would love to see this in color. The way she used the bridge of the song to shout out performers from that era, while making it rhyme, was pretty innovative for a 90’s music video. Other than that, there’s just about nothing I wouldn’t do to Madonna sexually. Lol ummm yea, I’ll leave it that

The color trends for Fall and Winter 2011/2012 were not the typical gloomy colors. Grey is out and the gloom is gone! Now is the time for LIVE colors to shine through.

The color ranges for women were filled with neutrals like maroon camel and caramels; mid-tones colors likes purple orange and red; and vivid hues like gold teal and turquoise.

For 2011, men are encouraged to explore more vibrant colors and harmonies. Men’s neutrals were filled with blue, perry, and camel; mid-tones were filled with orange, navy, and chocolate; and vivid hues filled with yellow, teal, and blue.

It is not about a key color, but more about the combination. Less attention on the single and be  encouraged to focus on the color harmonies. Mix colors and textures. Color blocking is essential and thinking outside the normal color combination will be your best bet.

Try mixing purple and gray, maroon and cooper, orange and gold instead of your normal gloomy fall colors. Have fun with the array of colors that fashion has to offer. The trends vary from 2010, with the new focus revolving sround expressing oneself through art.