Madonna's New Single 'Girls Gone Wild"

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "World AIDS Day: A SONG FOR YOU"

A SONG FOR YOU

this World AIDS Day

Hello FUTURE & A.A.+W readers. Here is a special piece I created for World AIDS Day. Also follow me tomorrow (Thursday) on facebook: Cornelius Jones Jr. and twitter: CorneliusJonesJ as I will be posting a bunch of videos in commemoration of this special day.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Happy Thanksgiving from Mother Erma""

Mother Erma Johnson's Thanksgiving Tip.

ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!!!!

I'm Not Perfect; but MORE Perfect Than YOU!!!!

HEREEEEEEEE"S GRACE!!!!

by Leah Greenblatt

Lady Gaga may adore cult pop icon Grace Jones, but Ms. Jones won’t picking up her t-t-telephone calls any time soon.

The 61-year-old Jamaican-born model/actress/fashion radical, best known as a club performer, Warhol muse, Bond girl, hair maverick, and all-around fabu freakshow, was recently asked by London’s Guardian newspaper what she thought of the world’s current preeminent mistress of carcinogenic eyewear. Jones’ reply? “I really don’t think of her at all. I go about my business … I wouldn’t go to see her.”

And would they ever work together? “She did [ask], but I said no. I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually.”

Mild-ish words, actually, from the woman who gave the world Strangé—and one wonders why she doesn’t call out her other obvious acolyte, Rihanna—but she can hardly be blamed for drawing the comparison.

As stated on The Future on February 5, 2010, Gaga’s genealogy has never been much of a mystery: She is unabashedly built from the DNA of many stars who came before her—including but not limited to Madonna, David Bowie, Roisin Murphy, Prince, Cher, Labelle, Freddie Mercury and of course the original cult-of-personality maestro himself, Mr. Warhol.

Like the recent M.I.A.-chugs-the-Lady-haterade episode, this one will surely be met by Gaga loyalists‘ insistence that the Lady is, like, ten billion times more amazeballs than Jones, who is just too jealous/old/All About Eve-ish to acknowledge her younger and more commercially successful rival.

If they do, they may be touching on some truth (sometimes, Strangé get cranké), but they’re missing the larger point: Gaga, definitively, could not exist without Jones, Madge, and Mercury, and she seems very much aware of that. In fact, she acknowledges them ad nauseum in her album liner notes and interviews and in, basically, the way she lives her outsized life-as-performance-art existence (bedazzled face crustaceans for brunch! Personal head planetarium for Ellen!) every day—if not in the fairly straightforward and markedly commercial (much more, at least, than Grace’s ever were) pop songs that anchor it all. I AGREE and I am the BIGGEST GRACE JONES FAN AROUND!!! Lil Mogul...

If progenitors like Jones are sometimes a little bothered that Gaga sails so easily down the far-out road they paved—and with a much fatter wallet tucked in her triangle pants—is that jealousy, or just humanity? I call it LIFE!!!

GLO TV's Show The Gayest Sh*t EVER hit YouTube This Week

This week GLO TV Network premiered it's official YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/glotvnetwork and the internet got it's first taste of the first season of the show, "THE GAYEST SH*T EVER!"



Outrageous! Outlandish! Overt and Over the top. It's funny, raw, in your face and uncensored comedy and commentary at it's best. No one is safe...from Beyonce to Oprah to dudes waring "skinny jeans"...it's all some of "The Gayest Sh*t" you've ever seen! (LOL) Check out the funniest comedians and celebs in this episode, then GO TO www.GLOTVNETWORK.com today to get the best in Urban LGBT Entertainment, News and Events!

Macy Gray Embraces Her Imperfections on 'The Sellout'

By Steve Baltin (PopEater)

Watch as the free spirit discusses her new album, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne and a 97 year old green man.

You won't hear any Auto-Tune on Macy Gray's new album, 'The Sellout.' During a recent video interview with PopEater in our LA offices, the singer-songwriter told us she's fine with her trademark flat vocals. "Well, I'm generally flat. As much as I've worked on it, I just sing flat a lot. Instead of being all upset about it, I like my flatness a little bit," she says. "And some people I actually think I'm doing it on purpose. Some people think it's style, so that's pretty cool."

For Gray, it's more important to be in the song than being technically proficient. "The cool thing is when I sing I really try to be in it, I really try to get lost in what I'm singing about, and the story that I'm in," she says. "When I'm on the mic, it doesn't work unless you're there. If you're singing about a tree, then it doesn't work unless you're at that tree, in your head at least. When you go off of that, there's a lot of things that your voices will do that aren't technically right, [but] that's always cool when it's rough and when it's honest.

And who are the other vocalists she looks to for honesty? "Well I remember I heard Axl Rose and he was just so raw. The great thing about his voice was that he was really technically right most of the time and he just had this amazing emotion," she says. "And then there's always the obvious ones, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder. Although I'm naming people that I don't remember them having any imperfection. Kurt Cobain, he was pretty like raw or flawed, but it was awesome. There's a lot of rappers. I think that's what cool about Jay-Z, is he's really raw and he raps, but if you ever listen to one of his a cappellas, it's so funny because his voice cracks all the time, and it gets really high-pitched, but it works on his records."

'The Sellout' is a record where Gray gets to put all of her emotional and honest influences to use, as she delivers some of the most revealing songwriting of her career on standout tracks like the title cut and the finale, 'The Comeback.' As she tells it, the bluntness of the record comes from where she was in her life. "There are really a lot [of] me pouring my heart out, all at a time when I didn't have much going on expect my little music [and] what I was doing with that," she says. "Everything I felt and everything I had went into that."

The Polaroid World of Gaga

I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!

We're not sure what Polaroid creative director Lady Gaga thinks of Polaroid's 300 camera, a chubby little device that was released late last year. And we're still waiting for the Gaga-branded camera that Polaroid promised when the partnership was unveiled at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. So we were intrigued to see V magazine's gallery of Gaga-on-Polaroid pix, snapped by Gaga's creative director, Matthew Williams. Watch Gaga explain why she's working with the revived photography brand. Are you a Polaroid traditionalist?

It's A Wrap for MACY's

By Sandra M. Jones,
Tribune Newspapers

The legacy of the department store as an oasis of customer service fell another notch this week when Macy's Inc. disclosed it is shutting down its gift-wrap department.

The retailer, like most these days, has been under pressure to cut costs. Staffing stores with clerks to cut paper and fold ribbons doesn't come cheap.

Department store services have been fading away for years. So it's no surprise that one more vestige of the traditional department store is going the way of coat checks, tea rooms and hair salons.Still, there is something ironic in eliminating gift-wrapping in a culture where shoppers, even those on a budget, are short of time and looking for convenience.

"It's penny-wise, but pound-foolish," said Pamela Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, a luxury market research firm. "It doesn't make sense. In our research, people are willing to pay extra to get a good presentation. By the time you buy the ribbons and bags yourself, it's $5 to $10, and you still have to do the work to wrap it." Macy's gift-wrap prices range from $5.95 for a small box to $15.95 for an extra-large box, said Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski. Bridal registry gifts are $7.95 for all sizes.

Macy's isn't alone, JC Penney Co. used to offer gift-wrap around the holidays but doesn't anymore. It stopped offering the perk six or seven years ago as a cost-saving move, said Ann Marie Bishop, spokeswoman for the midtier department store chain. Lord & Taylor also no longer offers gift-wrap. On the other hand, Bon-Ton Stores Inc., a rival midtier department store chain that includes Carson Pirie Scott, has kept its gift-wrap operation intact, said spokeswoman Mary Kerr.

As far back as the 1960s, retail pundits started to worry that department store cost structures wouldn't be able to support all the perks that made them so enticing, from no-questions-asked return policies to valet parking. And indeed, by the 1980s, discount chains, including Target, Wal-Mart and Kohl's, began to take over the retail landscape, betting that shoppers would tolerate bare-bones service in order to get a good price.One way to get around the expense of hiring gift-wrappers is to create a box and ribbon that sales clerks can package at the counter.

Nordstrom Inc., for example, stocks shiny, silver gift boxes and instructs clerks to wrap purchases carefully in tissue paper and walk around the front of the counter to present the finished package to shoppers. The gift box is free.

Even Neiman Marcus keeps it simple, with a silver box adorned with a bow and a special trinket, such as a key chain or small picture frame. The standard charge is $7.50, and for big spenders it's free.

Family-run Von Maur stands out as an exception. The Midwestern department store chain has been offering free gift-wrap since 1988 and has a separate gift-wrapping counter tucked away in a corner of the store, with eight separate choices of paper.

Macy's has been considering cutting out its gift-wrap operation for three years, said Sluzewski. The retailer tested the move in a few places before instituting the change at its more than 800 stores nationwide with a few exceptions, including Macy's flagship Chicago store, he said.

Macy's online wedding-registry service will also start offering engaged couples the option of asking their guests to send unwrapped gifts, Sluzewski said.


"There has been concern about the cost structure of department stores for many years, particularly the labor costs," said Homer Johnson, professor of management at Loyola University Chicago's school of business administration. "But they are between a rock and a hard place because their attraction was that they offered service, whereas the discounters didn't. So if they cut service, they cut out the very characteristic that made them attractive."

ReMix Tuesday with Lil Mogul November 2009

FACE to FACE

The MEGA World of Lil Mogul
by Lil Mogul

This is my last Remix TUESDAY in December of 2009. On Tuesday, November 10 The MEGA World of Lil Mogul discussed Brands more than ever need Face-to-Face connection with customers.

We live in the most hyper-connected time in the country's history; and yet we exist in a constant state of disconnection. While Apple, BlackBerry, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Match.com, Fresh Direct, and Amazon are well-designed, convenient and address specific needs and for the most part work well; they are also responsible for the undeniable in-personal interactions we used to take for granted during the course of a regular day.

I live in Harlem and I'm always amused by watching teens walking down the street with their friends while texting and talking on their cell phones rather than with each other! How is this younger demographic, armed to the teeth with all the technologically advanced connectivity tools, going to cope and interact as responsible adults? Poorly, I contend. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace? -- "Social" networks that do not require you to engage in any kind of human socialization. Apple? -- Creators of the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone and iTouch. I do not think it too crazy to say that we are in the midst of a dreadful away of human interaction that could seriously impact people's ability to truly "connect" with one another.

We've already seen the emergence of dieting coaches, dating coaches, life coaches. Now, people will pay many thousands of dollars to attend "Unplugged Retreats." Eventually, the pendulum will swing the other way, back toward more personal/human connections. And the brands that get that will be winners. I believe the brands that do not emphasize ultra-modern design, trendy badge value or blow-your-mind technological innovation as their core vision -- but rather emphasize the value of person-to-person, real live human interaction -- are the ones that will ascend and maintain leadership positions in the long run.

This trend may already be happening. One company that is already starting to apply that thinking is Macy’s. Macy's "Come Together" cause-marketing campaign scores points for teaming up with Feed America to provide 10 million meals for local food banks. With the tagline "The Great American Dinner Party," the retailer is encouraging people across the country to participate by having some friends over for a dinner party/fundraiser -- and just simply enjoy each other's company.

Macy's will match the contributions raised by each party. Television commercials for the campaign feature celebs such as Martha Stewart, Usher, Jessica Simpson, Tommy Hilfiger, Donald Trump, and Queen Latifah enjoying their own dinner party after hours inside Macy's Herald Square.

Old School? Yes!!! But in this day and age, also kind of revolutionary.

So in 2010... I will meet you at the playground.

Lil Mogul... Face-to-Face

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Cornelius speaks with Bobby Jones of SON OF ELLIS"

So again FutureForward and A.A+W fans, this is Art Month, and I have nice treat for you today. Yes, I'm featuring an A.A+Wsome artist in homage to Art Month.  I've been holding onto this interview for over a month now.  I just felt it was perfect timing to feature this amazing talent for our Art Month.  The amazing talent I'm speaking of is Mr. Bobby Jones (not the Gospel Recording Artist - I'm a fan of his as well), however, I'm speaking of the Visual Artist, Bobby Jones, who is the mastermind behind SON OF ELLIS.  He's a self-taught digital artist, Tennessee based, whose work is rooted in realism with influences of today's pop culture.  

I think you'll enjoy this read today.  Also, check out an amazing example of  his artwork below. Itmay remind you of someone very familiar .  

photo by Studio Two Eleven

Where are you from and how did you get your start as a visual artist?

I am from a small town in Mississippi, Holly Springs,which is about one hour away from Memphis.  Growing up I was always interested in drawing and art as far back as the age of three . I remember my first drawings being very crude and stick figures, and my grandmother showing me how to correctly draw the human figure. We lived in a very rural part of Ms. so art was like my getaway, to other places. My grandmother also made her own clothes and a lot of my fashion designs at the time . 

Tell us a little about Son of Ellis's birth and its core mission.

In high school, I would always help with set decorations or parade floats and signs, anything that needed an artistic flair. I decided that I was going to be a fashion designer around this time, so I made up a name for myself, Boulovani and that name held for quite a few years. I decided in late 2006 that I had to change my direction, because of a lot of things that I wanted to happen weren't happening. I changed my name to Son of Ellis and focused more on digital artwork, sort of a New Millennium Andy Warhol. I still do my fashions and 

I'm working on a doll fashion line actually. I also felt that people of color were not getting enough exposure, so I focused my art on the people who I felt needed to be seen and who are featured in all of my books.

As a visionary where do you plan to take your art?

I enjoy art, and music. I just want to keep drawing and keeping listening to music. I cannot sing though, but when I draw I have to have my music to inspire me. I would like to take my art wherever God allows me. In the past, I always tried to forge my own path, but I realize that sometimes you have to allow God to guide your steps as you make a difference in the World we live in.

Vibrant portraits and the use of color is prominent in your work, can you share with us the connection to color and the use of African American subjects in your work?

 I think that African American people are beautiful, gorgeous and Vibrant. I wanted to reflect that 

in my work. The diversity and the strength of African American People is very powerful.  It's important that we realize this and embrace the possibilities .

For those of us who are not familiar with the art genre of 'realism' please share the meaning of that term?

I don't per-say, think that my art would be considered as "realism". I keep it pretty simple in regards to the overall image. I want the colors to speak for themselves and it's important to me that the eyes stand out , as well . I want people to be drawn in when they look at my work. My work has been referred to as "realism" in the past, but I think its more  the vibrancy and the stark cleanness of it which makes it stand out.  

What's next for Son of Ellis?

In 2006 my work was featured on BetJ's Soul Sessions and  in several magazines.  I would like to continue along that path. I have five coffee table books available and I'd like to do more. I would also like to do more fashion design.

Specifically speaking about Bobby Jones.  What inspires you on a daily basis?  And what is your Vision, for your life, in the next 5 years?

I'm inspired by everyday things, the sky, grass and people. I always watch what is going on around me. If, we were to just sit still sometimes and take in the beauty of the world around us, there would be a whole lot more artists. As for the next five years, I want to continue creating,inspiring and growing. Making a Million, wouldn't hurt either..LOL

This a Future favorite question...name one guilty pleasure

Just one? LOL  I guess , shopping. I have stuff everywhere, clothes, music, art. I need to downsize in all the above categories.

SON OF ELLIS , formerly known as Boulovani, is a popular Tennessee based contemporary digital artist who has garnered much recognition for his passion for art. Self taught,his work deals in realism and is full of feeling , inspiration, and depth.SON OF ELLIS' art is reflective of today's pop culture. He is most known for his vibrant portraits and use of color. His preferred mediums are a combination of pencil and ink, which he then digitizes to color. You may also view his work at sonofellis.com.

Bobby Jones

facebook-son of ellis

myspace-son of ellis

website- www.sonofellis.com

email- ellis@sonofellis.com or sonofellis7@aol.com

So who is that guy in the picture?

Well that's all from my end.  See you next Wednesday and have an A.A+Wsome day!