Book Review - Seed to Harvest

Overview

Contains the novels Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster.

In her classic Patternist series, multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner Octavia E. Butler established themes of identity and transformation that echo throughout her distinguished career. Now collected for the first time in one volume, these four novels take readers on a wondrous odyssey from a mythic, primordial past to a fantastic far future.
In ancient Africa, a female demigod of nurture and fertility mates with a powerful, destructive male entity. Together they birth a race of madmen, visionaries, and psychics who cling to civilization's margins and back alleys for millennia, coming together in a telepathic Pattern just as Earth is consumed by a cosmic invasion. Now these new beings--no longer merely human--will battle to rule the transfigured world.

My Review

Octavia Butler is one of my favorite sci-fi authors and the reason I really got into sci-fi. This was one series of her's that I had not read and really wanted to since it contains some of her earliest work. It contains four books: Wild Seed (1980), Mind of My Mind (1977), Clay's Ark (1984) and Patternmaster (1976). The order of the books in the series compared to their publication dates makes the disconnect between the books more understandable.

Wild Seed and Mind of My Mind explain how the Pattern comes about and Doro and Anayanwu are characters that flow through both books. Clay's Ark is the book that just seems like a filler. It's a book to explain the Clayarks that exist in Patternmaster but doesn't do a good job explaining their connection to the first two books. Also the past/present chapter movement made it a hard book to follow at times. 

Rating

My overall rating is Good. If Clay's Ark was better connected to the other books, I could give it a higher rating.

This is part of the Diversity on the Shelf Reading Challenge

Diversity on the Shelf 2014

So I have decided to challenge myself this year to read different types of books this year. I also hope to read some books that I already own or that are on my to-read list. This challenge will help me accomplish both. 

The following is from the host's website.

Challenge Details

1. Any book (by any author) with a main character that is a person of color qualifies for this reading challenge, as well as any book written by an author of color. The goal is to encourage readers have a more diverse reading experience and to support diversity in the publishing industry by reading and reviewing books by or about person of color.

2. The challenge will run from January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2014 (books read prior to 1/1/2014 do not count towards the challenge). You can join anytime before 12/1/2014. Sign up at My Little Pocketbooks

3. Books can be any format (print, ebook, audio).

4. Novellas, Short story collections, Poetry, Graphic novels/manga, Children Books, and all genres are allowed. 

5. Books can be of any publication date. 

6. You can choose your books as you go or create a list in advance. Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.

Join the Challenge

To join the challenge, grab the Diversity on the Shelf 2014 Challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. 

You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, LibraryThing, BookLikes, Libib, etc., just as long as you have a dedicated shelf for the Diversity on the Shelf 2014 Challenge and your profile is not private. The point of linking up is to have a place where people can see what you’re reading.

Pick a Level

Choose how many diversity centered books you would like to add to your “read” shelf in 2014:

1st Shelf: Read 1-6 books

2nd Shelf: Read 7 -12 books

3rd Shelf: Read 13 - 18 books

4th Shelf: Read 19 -24 books

5th Shelf: Read 25+ books

Once you pick a level you can go higher and read more books but you cannot go down a level.

If you'd like to participate in the Diversity on the Shelf 2014 Reading Challenge, please sign up, and if you have a blog please spread the word by grabbing the button and post about your participation.

If you need some ideas for what to read go to the original POC Reading Challenge blog.

There will be giveaways along the way, theme reads and a giveaway at the end for the participants who participate each month and completes the challenge.

I'm going to start myself at the 2nd shelf level. Good thing I can go up if necessary. Some of the books I plan to read are listed on my Goodreads page and I'll add as I find other books to read. The plan is to post updates as I go along. Hopefully I can keep up with it.

#1's Reign Supreme

The games have been played and we’re down to four. Baylor, UConn, Stanford, Notre Dame. This is the second time in history and first time since 1989 all four # seeds have made it to the Final Four.

How did these teams get here?

Stanford – 35-1

Stanford ran through the Pac-12 undefeated, winning both the regular season and tournament titles. Their lone loss of the season was to Connecticut in November. In the tournament, Stanford won easily over Hampton and West Virginia. The Cardinal pulled away from a good South Carolina team in their Sweet Sixteen matchup. Duke had no chance against their speed in the Elite Eight pairing.

Connecticut – 33-4

Connecticut has been and up and down team all season despite their record. The Huskies won the Big East Tournament over Notre Dame after losing to they twice during the regular season. They also lost to Baylor by five and St. John’s shocked them with a buzzer beating one point win. In the tournament, UConn has looked like the team they were expected to be at the beginning of the season. They beat Prairie View A&M and held Kansas State to a record low of 26 points in their first two games. Penn State couldn’t get their offense going against the Huskies stifling defense in their Sweet Sixteen matchup. Kentucky kept the game close in the first half but UConn pulled away in the second half of their Elite Eight game.

Notre Dame – 34-3

            Notre Dame ran through the Big East only hitting one bump against West Virginia in a surprising loss late in the season. Early in the season Notre Dame loss big to Baylor in the preseason WNIT final, 94-81. Their only other loss came to UConn in the Big East Tournament final. In the tournament, the Fighting Irish beat Liberty and California easily in the first two rounds. Notre Dame dismantled St. Bonaventure in the Sweet Sixteen holding them to 35 points and only 13 in the first half. Maryland could not defensively keep up with the Irish and were held to 49 points.

Baylor – 38-0

            Baylor has been on a roll all season going undefeated into the NCAA tournament. They easily won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. This season they only had a few close games against nationally ranked competition. They won by five over UConn in December and by seven over Texas A&M in February. They also had a close call against Texas Tech, winning by five in February as well. In the tournament, the Lady Bears have handily beaten their opponents including UCSB and Florida in the first two rounds. Georgia Tech and Tennessee both put up valiant efforts but they were no match for Baylor.

Preview of the games

Stanford vs. Baylor

Simply put, Baylor has to keep playing like they have to win this game. Everyone has contributed to the team’s wins, not just Brittney Griner. They are the most well rounded team left in the tournament. Odyssey Sims has to make sure to not force the ball into Griner because Stanford has speed all over the court.

Stanford has to play a quicker pace than they are used to and work more on fast breaks to avoid having to go inside against Griner. The play of the Ogwumike sister, Nnemkadi and Chiney, will be key for the Cardinal. They will also have to get other players involved because Baylor will key in on both of them.

Overall I think this will be a good game but I don’t see Baylor losing. Too many weapons and they have looked exceptional in every game I have seen them in this season.

Connecticut vs. Notre Dame

This will be their fourth meeting of the season and it will be a good one. UConn got the best of Notre Dame in their last meeting in the Big East Championship. For UConn to win this game, they have to get a lot from their center Stefanie Dolson. She has to play well on both ends of the court, especially defense where she will be guarding fifth-year senior Devereaux Peters. Bria Hartley and Tiffany Hayes will also have to have big games to make a difference.

Notre Dame has to get Natalie Novosel involved in the game. She has hit 24 of 28 free throws in the tournament. Many of her attempts came from driving to the basket and taking the contact. The play of Skylar Diggins will be huge in this game as well. The better she plays, the better the team plays.

This game is a toss up to me. I think Notre Dame has the experience on their side to win. They also want to get back to the title game to make up for losing last year to Texas A&M. I think that motivation, along with playing a constant rival, will give them the advantage.

We'll see how my picks turn out later tonight. The games can be seen on ESPN starting with UConn vs. ND at 6:30 and Stanford vs Baylor at 8:30 pm. The games are also available via live stream on ESPN3.

How I Feel

This is how I feel right now.

30 Days of Music - Children's Story

Slick Rick is one of those true storytellers and this song is the best example. I can see the story as he goes through the verses without even seeing the video. That's what happens when you use the words to create  the visuals. 

30 Days of Music - Feels Good

Tony! Toni! Tone! was one of the great groups from the 90s. Musically they made me want to hear their songs.

"Feels Good" is one of my favorite songs by Tony! Toni! Tone! This is from their second album The Revival. No special reason but the beat is infectious. Check it out below.

New music coming out soon!

This year has been full of great music and June will be no different. I have been waiting to hear from these artists and the anticipation is killing me.

Ledisi - Pieces of Me - 6/14
Starting the month off is Ledisi with her follow up to Turn Me Loose. The title track is a empowering song explaining exactly who she is. "Shut Up" is another great song to haters to keep her name out of their mouths. She is having an online listening party on June 9th. Click here to listen.

Jill Scott - The Light of the Sun - 6/21
I have been waiting for this album for so long. Jill has posted snippets of some of the songs and they sound good so far. She's going on tour this summer with Mint Condition, Anthony Hamilton, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Doug E. Fresh. Needless to say I will be in attendance. Jill and Anthony both put on great shows so I know it will be good.

Kindred the Family Soul - Love Has No Recession - 6/28
Kindred has left Hidden Beach as well moving on to Shancie for their new album. The first single, "You Got Love" is catchy and the video is a nice complement to the song. I'm looking to hear more tracks because I wasn't a big fan of their last album.

If you know of other albums that are coming out this month, let me know. Always looking for new music to listen to.

30 Days of Music - Hosanna

Kirk Franklin is one of my favorite gospel artists. His music has been influencing me since he first came out. Is music has always been different from what was being sung in church and was something that I would want to listen to outside the church.

Kirk Franklin's music has always made me feel something. The slow songs make you think, the upbeat ones make you move. "Hosanna" is one of the songs I put on in my car on my way to church for a few reasons. 1) To help me wake up 2) It get me in the mood for service. Check out a live performance below.

30 Days of Music - Nothing Even Matters

This song is my favorite duet probably ever created. Lauryn and D'Angelo's voices blended so well together. the song simply states that because of the love they have, nothing else matters in the world. The vamp at the end when D'Angelo is repeating "nothing but you" and Lauryn is free styling over him is beautiful. 

"Nothing Even Matters" is off The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the album she won five Grammys for. This is my second favorite song off the album ("To Zion" is the first) and it fits perfectly on the album. Let me know how you feel about this song.

30 Days of Music - Caged Bird

Alicia Keys caught me with her first CD. He voice was different from what was on the radio and she could play the piano as well. Songs in A Minor was a great album and is still my favorite of her catalogue. It is being re-released this month as a collector's edition for the 10th anniversary.

"Caged Bird" is my favorite song of this album because it's so simple but still so deep. It's about wanting to be freed from what people want you to do and do whatever it is you want. To show off your true talents instead of being safe. Let me know what you think.

Alicia Keys - Caged Bird  download at emp3

30 Days of Music - 4 My People

Missy is one of my favorite rappers so she had to be on this list. "4 My People" was from her third album . . . So Addictive. Missy made an impact on the music world with her inventive beats and out of this world videos.

"4 My People" gets me excited. In college, this was the song me and my roommate would put on while we were getting dressed to go out. This song is in heavy rotation on my workout playlist. I can't help but rap along to this song. And it features a verse by Eve which is even better. Check it out below.

Missy Elliott - 4 My People (fe..  download at emp3

June is Black Music Month

Since it's Black Music Month, I've decided to take this opportunity to write on this blog more often. So going forward I will post some of my favorite songs every day.

Boyz II Men is my favorite group of all time. I've been a fan of them since they first came out. The first CD I ever owned was II. The combination of their four voices made them the special group that they are.   Nathan, Michael, Shawn and Wanya make up the most popular group of the 90s. Michael with his deep bass voice talk singing on some of their more popular songs. Wanya who could beg with the best of them. And SHawn and Nathan who stood out when necessary. They were it for me. Michael has left the group but they continue to make music and entertain their fans.

It would have been easy to chose one of their Grammy winning hits but some of my favorite songs are album cuts. "I Finally Know" is off Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, their fourth studio album. This song is about realizing that the person you've been looking for has been right there the whole time. I like this song because it is basically saying not to dismiss someone as a love interest because they are a friend. Check out the song below and let me know what you think.

Getting To Know . . . . Tiffany 'SongBird' Starks

I recently had the chance to meet with Tiffany Starks and find out more about her, her music and her thoughts on today's musical landscape. We went off topic a little when we started discussing the state of current music, but I had a great time speaking with her.

Getting To Know . . . . Will Brown

I had an opportunity to speak with a profoundly talented young man making his mark in the gospel world. Will Brown is the leader of the group Will Brown and Another Level. They are a small group located in Newark, NJ that was started about five years ago. I had a discussion with him about why he does what he does and what he hopes to do. In the first section, he discusses his background, gives some info on Another Level and how he writes music.

In the second part of the interview, he talks about his musical progression, an album that he loves and what type of impact he hopes to make in the industry and the world.

A Year in the Life of Harambee Records, Part 2

This is the second six-month installment of my assistance with Harambee Records. At this point, we are getting closer to producing an album for Will Brown and Another Level. In order to ensure that everything is done properly, the correct protection is needed. I helped Will Brown secure the proper copyright information for the fourteen tracks on the album. It is also important to make sure that everyone involved in the songs gets paid correctly. Splitting the copyrights properly between the parties is a timely process and took about a month to complete.

While this is going on, it is important to keep the groups in the public eye. I helped find venues for other live events for both Tiffany and Will Brown & Another Level. They were also asked to sing with other artists in the area. I assisted in the review and approval of the live contracts for these events. I also made sure that they had transportation to the concerts to ensure they arrived on time.

During the recording process I learned the importance of different types of engineers for the studio. There is a tracking engineer who handles the basic music for the track and then you have a recording engineer who makes sure that the sound is correct when recording the vocal parts of the song. It is also important to have the proper producer with the correct engineer. I researched the mastering engineer for Will Brown’s project since it is in the final stages of creation. This person will finalize and polish the product for distribution and duplication to the masses. Below there is a clip of a studio session going over the little things that can come up in song when reviewing for final mastering.

Over these last twelve months I have learned so much about the recording process and how much work it takes to put out an album. I will continue to work with Harambee Records because even though it’s a lot of work, the fun is seeing the final product. I haven’t see a final product yet so I want to stick around for that.

Poets I Love

April is National Poetry Month so I decided to make this post about my introduction to poetry. One of my first introductions to poetry was through the movie "Love Jones". It made me want to go to a place like that. Listening to people recite their poetry, getting new ideas for pieces. I also started reading poetry through school and began to find different poets to read. Two of my favorite poets are Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez. In "Love Jones", Nina quotes the following Sanchez poem.

I gather up

each sound

you left behind

and stretch them

on our bed.

each nite

I breathe you

and become high.

One of my favorite Nikki Giovanni is "Don't Hold Me Back"

And when I dream I dream

In colors

Even rainy days sparkle

Even clouds have shine

And when I hope I hope

In smiles

Even laughter has bubbles

Even giggles ballet

And so I understand

That life is precious

And important

And wonderful

When things go wrong

When things go back

When things don't work

I start to dream

Now I am nowhere near their talent but I love to write because it allows me to get things off my chest. I can express things that I sometimes cannot articulate without writing. Here is one of my poems, "Music".

It's all I need

Ministering to me

Saying things you never could

Explaining things you never would

Showing me what I could not see

Leaving me craving for more

Feed my hunger

Give me what I need

The words, the sounds

Taking me to a different world

Let me be where I need to be

Just my music and me

Let me know what you think.

DMP

Concert Review - Alicia Keys and Friends: Freedom Tour

This was my first concert of the year and let me say, this was a great way to start the year. I had never seen Alicia Keys live and she did not disappoint. But let me go back to the beginning of the show.

Jermaine Paul opened the show. You know who he is, the guy who killed Diary with Alicia live. Gives me chills every time I hear it. He sang three songs, which were hard to understand because of the sound system. He came out and started jamming on his guitar and moving across the stage. He has great stage presence and energy. Although he only sang three songs, he was a nice warm up for the rest of the evening. I would love to see him in concert where he has more time to showcase his own material. I listened to two of his songs online after the concert and he has good content. Airplane and Ready To Fall In Love are good, especially the second song.

Melanie Fiona was a surprise performance. I had seen some clips of her performing live before but it was different experiencing it myself. She started off with the high energy Bang Bang then went into her hit single Give It To Me Right. She took us back to Chaka Khan and early Mary J Blige with her cover of Sweet Thing. She then went to her newest hit, It Kills Me, and tore it down. You could feel the emotion while she was singing it. She closed out her set with Ay Yo, inspiring people to reach for their dreams. I would love to see her in concert again once she has some more material.

Robin Thicke's portion of the show was too short. Considering his catalog, I wanted him to perform longer. He started with Magic, which was the perfect opening. He then went into two songs from his new album, Shakin' It For Daddy and 2 Luv Birds. He had the saxophone player from his horn section solo before he began singing. His set was a red and black theme and he played 2 Luv Birds and Dreamworld at a cherry red piano that was center stage. He did Shooter next which got the crowd hyped up. He went into Sex Therapy and ended his show with Lost Without You. He had great energy throughout his performance and I loved the fact that he had a full band and only used tracks on a few songs that had sounds that couldn’t be played on a traditional instrument.

Alicia Keys was next and the crowd was wild before she even came on stage. Her set was one of the most inventive sets I’ve ever seen. It consisted on three different levels of digitized screens that moved throughout the show and displayed different graphics throughout the show. She did such classics such as You Don’t Know My Name, Fallin’, and If I Ain’t Got You. Off her new CD she did Like The Sea, Love Is Blind and Wait Til’ You See My Smile. Early in the show her piano came out on stage and it was wrapped in a digital screen that asked her to play it. Once she began playing it said thank you. Later in the show, the images on her piano synched with the images on the screen. On Go Ahead, Alicia had a keytar (keyboard/guitar combo) and had a battle with her guitar player.

During a wardrobe change, one of Alicia’s background singers went into a cover of Feeling Good. I understand why Alicia has her on her team. The girl killed the song and made it her own. The crowd went wild when Alicia went to the keys and turned up that intro note on Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart. Jermaine Paul came back out and sang Diary with her and it was just as good as on the Unplugged live album. Empire State Of Mind was her encore and she flipped the words in the chorus to Newark for one chorus to rep for the city she was in. it was the perfect way to end the concert.

Alicia had three dancers with her and she was getting down with them on the upbeat tracks, especially Put It In A Love Song. I was glad she wasn’t strapped to the piano the whole night. You could tell that she was having a good time on stage and enjoyed interacting with the crowd. I would love to see her in concert again.

Welcome to Who's the Bose!

This space will be a place for me to speak on different things I feel about music and other current events. I am interested in many different things and will hopefully be able to talk about them here. Now don't be surprised if you see an article about sports or current events on here. I have no specific direction for this blog yet. I am going to let the writing spirit lead me.

Music is my first love. I am always listening to music; in the car, in the shower, at my desk at work. It helps me get through the day, especially at work. Poetry is also one of my loves. For me, it is a way to express many things you sometimes can't say. My business plan is a combination of these two loves.

Business Plan

Café Lush will be a full service café with space for spoken word, live music and DJs. The music will primarily be R&B, Neo-Soul, and Hip-Hop. It will be based in East Orange, NJ focusing on an underrepresented market. There are no other such locations for young people to go to hear spoken word and different types of live music in the area. The need for such a venue is the growing interest in spoken word. Def Poetry on television and slam competitions across the country are producing a greater interest in this type of expression.

With this business I hope to give young adults an outlet to express themselves. I also hope to impart knowledge about the entertainment industry through various classes to be offered.

A Year in the Life of Harambee Records, Part 1

Since I have been doing so much work with Harambee Records, I haven’t had time to update with monthly reports. So I will do a six-month update.

In June, Harambee Records had a concert to showcase their artists and I was heavily involved. For the concert I helped with the marketing and publicity of the artists and the event. It was important to have sponsorship through advertisements in the programs to fund the concert.

Scheduling rehearsal for the artists was important to make sure that the sound was good for the event. It was also necessary to ensure that equipment was set up and broken down correctly and in a timely fashion. We coordinated security for the artists and their belongings. This process took about a month and a half but it was well worth it. The concert went off without a hitch and all had a good time.

G-fy-G

Will Brown & Another Level

Tiffany Starks

Once the concert was over, it was important to send thank you notes to the donors. This helps to maintain a relationship with these donors who can help with future events. In order to keep the projects moving forward for the artists it was important to schedule recording times for the artists. Will Brown and Another Level needed to get their musicians into the studio to begin the recording of the tracks for their album.

We had to schedule a photo shoot for Tiffany Starks, another artist on the label. I assisted with securing designer wardrobe rental and a location for the photo shoot. These photos were used in promotional materials for her CD and press kit. This was an exciting event because I had never been to a photo shoot and you could see the creativity growing as the day went on.

There has been a lot of work in these first six months and there will be more to come. I am looking forward to learning more about the recording process.