From EurWeb

Tyler Perry‘s non-Madea flick “Peeples” bombed, y’all. That’s a shame too, ’cause we liked it.

If only they could’ve found a way to put Madea in it maybe it woulda had enough juice to be a winner at the box office.

Speaking of which, “Tyler Perry Presents: Peeples” took in only $4.8 million, well below expectations for a film with low expectations to begin with, according to theWrap.

Read more on EurWeb.com.

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I’m so excited to launch the newest business column on Madame Noire: “Work It!” Every month we’ll dive into emerging trends, the future of work, and the innovative ways businesswomen are updating how they do business. The nature of work is changing at a rapid pace. Follow “Work It” to get a head start on what the future holds and shake up business as usual to take on this new era.

To establish the “Work It” circle of trust, I’m giving up one my most guarded, secret business weapons: JWTIntelligence. The think tank of one the world’s best-known marketing communications brands, JWTIntelligence’s gift for predicting trends would make Dionne’s psychic friends gag with envy. JWT has released 100 things to watch in 2013. We’re counting down the top ten trends you should be thinking about.

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Just as everyone is sitting down to assess their plan of action with their diets, their workout regiments, their careers, and their finances, the new year is the perfect time to sit down and assess your plan of action with your love life. If things didn’t go the way you’d hoped in 2012, for the most part that was no stroke of bad luck. It was an accumulation of wrong decisions, shortsightedness, and perhaps failure to respect yourself and your needs. Don’t just charge into 2013 saying, “My love life will be better this year!” Ask yourself how?What will you consciously do, or perhaps not do, to improve your love life? A great way to begin is to make a list of behavior and treatment you just won’t tolerate. This might help you get started with your list.

I had a friend in college who would walk around spouting this one quote over and over again. He was a little extra in life, so initially I didn’t pay much attention to him. But eventually I started to listen and I realized what he was saying actually made a whole lot of sense. The quote, by Stephen Grayhm, goes something like this: “Excuses are tools of the incompetent used to build monuments of nothingness.” It goes on to say, “Those who use them seldom amount to anything.” I don’t remember him reciting that last part, probably because it’s a bit far-fetched. We’ve all made excuses at one point or another.

I can’t go to the gym because it’s too cold outside.

I can’t go to school because I don’t have enough money.

I can’t quit this job and apply for another because I’m too tired after work.

I don’t have the right qualifications.

They might not like what I have to say or offer.

We’ve gotten so good at making excuses that oftentimes we don’t even recognize when our reasoning is valid and when we’ve made them up to hide our own fear or insecurities. While I won’t argue that people who make excuses will never amount to anything, I will say that we miss out on what God has for our lives when we rationalize our way out of opportunities.

Earlier this week, at my church’s New Year’s/Watch Night service my childhood pastor encouraged the whole congregation and especially me by saying that if God has shown you something, or revealed something to you, He will be there with you as you go about the business of achieving it.

He said, if you have a vision or dream to be somewhere, you have to believe that God, if you believe, and…the universe if you don’t, will provide the provision to see that dream through. If you look at any success stories, you’ll notice that there’s almost always a level of sacrifice and a period of struggle before these individuals got to where they dreamed of being.

So in 2013, if you’re not a fan of resolutions, start paying more attention to your own mental chatter. What are you saying to yourself? Are the reasons why you can’t do something, real legit hurdles or are they ways to keep yourself from admitting that you’re scared to step out there, put yourself out there or take the risk of investing in yourself.

Everything might not go perfectly, it might not always go smoothly but instead of making yet another excuse, start where you are, use what you’ve got, do what you can.

It’s unfortunate that most New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past January. For some of us, losing weight lasts just as long as the trial membership to the gym. Eating healthy doesn’t last as long as the expiration date on the yogurt. And the goal to have better relationships usually goes well until someone says something to us that we don’t like.

Every year people rush to make their list of resolutions in hopes of being a better person in the new year; and while it’s not impossible to keep resolutions, usually they’re broken…unless you plan for success. Yes, even your plan needs to have a plan when it comes to New Year’s resolutions.

So before you make that list of changes for the New Year, here are five things to consider that could help you with your success.

It’s the last MN Morning Jam of the year folks! So it’s fitting that we go out with a bang (and some wine, which we will drink much later in the evening), and some Nas, who is coincidentally playing a New Year’s Eve show tonight in NYC at Radio Music City Hall. The extra fine rapper teamed up with the late and great Amy Winehouse for this groove-worthy track about his search for the right lady. And the good news is, he doesn’t sound too picky in his search for a boo (“She could be from out the hood or either work for the president”). The song is off of his album, Life is Good, which was one of the best albums of the year, and it’s definitely worth a two-step at your desk.

No matter what you’ve been through this year, we’ve made it to a new year (in a few hours) with new opportunities. Let’s be thankful, and remember as Nas would say, that yes, life is good! Happy early new year loves!

Looking ahead to 2013, several well-known and newly-famous African-American authors are coming out with new books. Additionally, several books focusing on the black experience are also debuting. Check out some books Madame Noire is excited for in early 2013!

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Ayana Mathis, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, December 2012
Ayana Mathis struck gold. Her debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, was chosen by Oprah to be featured for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. Published by Knopf, Twelve Tribes was written while Mathis was studying at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and follows one family through the generations, including the titular Hattie as she participates in the Great Migration to the North from the South.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie has been well received by critics, including The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani and a starred review in Kirkus Reviews, and the publication date was pushed up to accommodate Lady O herself.

Stop the track, let me state facts. Bey told you give her another minute and she’ll be right back!

Though it’s already been annoyingly obvious that neither pregnancy nor motherhood has managed to slow Beyonce down, it’s clear the 31-year-old self-proclaimed female version of a hustla is gearing up to make 2013 her year. On top of being slated to earn $4 million for a New Year’s Eve concert in Vegas,  landing the Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans February 3, and reportedly gearing up for a new album release, let the Dream tell it, oh yeah, and that HBO documentary, Pepsi has just launched images of it’s latest campaign and it’s got Bey’s face all over it— literally.

See what I mean.

According to the New York Times, “The multiyear campaign is estimated at $50 million, the bulk of it for media placements and promotions around the world, and the remainder split roughly equally between Beyoncé’s fee and what Pepsi calls a creative content development fund.” In a statement, Beyonce spoke on her ever-developing relationship with Pepsi, which kicked off way back in 2002, saying:

“Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve. As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity.”

Backing up that thought, Brad Jakeman, president of PepsiCo’s global beverage group, told the NYT:

“Consumers are seeking a much greater authenticity in marketing from the brands they love. It’s caused a shift in the way we think about deals with artists, from a transactional deal to a mutually beneficial collaboration.”

This mutually beneficial collabo is supposed to kick off sometime in 2013, the year of the Bey apparently, but no official date has been established. All that’s known so far is that sometime after her superbowl halftime show, Beyonce will appear in a TV ad for Pepsi which will be her fifth with the cola brand. After that, you can probably expect her face to follow you all throughout the grocery store, as it will be plastered across Pepsi cans for who knows how long. All I have to say is for people who are already sick of seeing and hearing about Beyonce wherever they go, 2013 is going to be a rough year for you.

What do you think about Baddie Bey’s new Pepsi campaign?

Source: sportshawaii.com

The Arsenio Hall Show was everything in the early ’90s and now the man behind the late-night talk show phenom is getting a second chance at recreating that host magic.

On the heels of his “Celebrity Apprentice” win, Arsenio has become a bit of a hot commodity, which is why CBS and Tribune Company are partnering with him on a new nightly syndicated show that’s expected to launch in 2013. The show will air at 11pm on the distribution companies’ 17 TV stations, including WGN-TV in Chicago and KTBC-TV in Los Angeles which, according to the Boston Herald, will give it instant access to more than half the country.

The first time around, Arsenio’s show had a decent five-year run. It opened strongly in 1989 and reached the pinnacle of success in 1992 when Bill Clinton made an appearance and played his saxophone in front of the live audience. Unfortunately when David Letterman entered the late-night arena, Arsenio couldn’t compete and his show was taken off the air in ’94.

Unphased by his first bout with television, Arsenio is more than ready to come back to TV. Before he even won this season of “Celebrity Apprentice” he’d expressed strong interest in getting another crack at late-night TV, and he thinks no one is better suited for the job than him. The 56-year-old said during an interview yesterday:

“In the end I’m a comic, and nothing fits the talk-show mode like a stand-up comic.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be going home to my old friends and colleagues and firing up our night thing,” he added in a statement. “Let’s get busy … Again!”

Will you tune in to Arsenio’s new show next year?

More on Madame Noire!

• Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind the Making of Coming to America
• Is It True That Men Don’t Want To Get Married?
• Single Black Male: Stop Giving Up the Cookies Ladies, Men WILL Wait for Sex
• Where Are They Now? Now Defunct “Making The Band” Groups: Da Band and Danity Kane
• Don’t Be His Fool, or His Doormat: Excuses Women Need to Stop Making For Men
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Will I Lose My Femininity With My Hair Length?
• LIVIN’ LARGE! Celebs Who Made It BIG By Being BIG