I got a chance to listen to Five for Fighting’s newly released cd “Slice”, thanks to One2OneNetwork. Wow, of the cds I’ve reviewed recently, this one is my favorite hands down, it’s awesome!

About the Singer
“Singer/songwriter John Ondrasik has spent the past decade writing deeply personal songs that include social messages, invoke the human spirit and make an emotional connection. This can be heard on the past four albums by Five For Fighting, the band name under which he records and performs. Five For Fighting’s breakthrough came in 2001 with the Grammy-nominated song “Superman” from the Platinum certified “America Town” (Aware/Columbia) Cd. Already climbing the charts prior to 9/11, “Superman” went on to have a life of his own, becoming a song of healing for the nation. John joined superstar musicians for the now legendary post 9/11 fundraiser The Concert For New York, which paid tribute to all the firefighters, police officers and paramedics affected by the events of September 11th. Ondrasik’s relationship with those survivors and families has led to life-changing experiences and celebrated philanthropic work for the singer, who has since performed USO concerts around the world. His audiences have included General David Petraeus and the National Guardsmen at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Ondrasik also conceived and produced For the Troops, a series of compilations featuring superstar recording artists that are available for free to every active service member in the U.S. Armed Forces (the forthcoming collection, For The Troops III, will feature comedians exclusively). Ondrasik’s charity work doesn’t stop there. His site HERE collects money for various charities.”

Album Tracklisting:
1. Slice
2. Note To The Unknown Soldier
3. Tuesday
4. Chances
5. This Dance
6. Above The Timberline
7. Transfer
8. Hope
9. Story Of Your Life
10. Love Can’t Change The Weather
11. Augie Nieto

FFF Website (be sure to check this out, lots of neat tidbits here): HERE
FFF Twitter: HERE
FFF Widget: HERE
FFF Videos: HERE
FFF Facebook: HERE
Slice on Amazon (with samples of each track): HERE

I loved “Slice” and was so impressed with not only Ondrasik’s soaring voice, but his intelligent, poetic lyrics. I especially enjoyed “Chances”, “Tuesday” and “Slice”. There wasn’t a single song on this album that I did not thoroughly enjoy. The quality of the music just left me totally blown away.

And now for the fun part, the Giveaway! One lucky winner will receive an Autographed Cd of “Slice”, thanks to One2OneNetwork. How awesome is that!?!

Required Entry, Leave a Comment: Which song do you think you would like best on “Slice” ?

For Extra Entries (Leave a Separate Comment for each extra entry):
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4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave a link (you can use: ” Five for Fighting Slice Autographed Cd Giveaway @frugalfritzie | Ends 10/26 http://retwt.me/15bMs ” )
5. Add me as a friend on Facebook HERE

Contest will conclude on Monday 10/26 at 6:00pm Central. Winner will be selected by random.org. Winner has 24 hours to respond, if there is no response, I will randomly select another winner.

Disclaimer: I was contacted by One2One Network to do this review. While I was not compensated for this, I did receive a download of the cd in order to do the review.

Joshua Bell’s new cd, “At Home With Friends” has just been released on 9/29.

“At Home With Friends” Album Track Listing:

• I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet

• Come Again featuring Sting, vocals

• Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon

• Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals

• Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various

• My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals

• Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings

• Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)

• Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals

• O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone

• Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon

• Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals

• Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano

• Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin

• Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar

• I’ll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano

You can listen to samples of each track and order HERE and you can check out Joshua’s Facebook page HERE.

Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has been in the spotlight since he was 14 years old. Now, 20 years and 30 original albums later, Joshua has the public’s attention like no other classical violinist of his time, captivating audiences worldwide. He’s a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and he’s earned countless awards and honors for his work as a concert stage performer and recording artist, including “Classical Artist of the Year” and “Classical CD of the Year” by Billboard Magazine. He’s the first musician to have a classical music video played on VH1, and he’s appeared on Sesame Street.

I have to say, this album was a complete delight to listen to from beginning to end. Joshua Bell has some serious talent and he brought serious talent along with him on this cd! In his liner notes on “At Home With Friends”, he notes that home is a very special place where he has a lot of friends over & entertains them all the time and he wanted to recreate that feeling on this album. He sure did accomplish that. The whole album has an intimate feeling to it, like you’re in his home watching & listening to Joshua and his fellow artists creating beautiful music together. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite, as all of the songs are just great. I especially liked “Eleanor Rigby” featuring Frankie Moreno and I can’t help but love “My Funny Valentine” with Kristin Chenoweth. That girl just has the voice of an angel, I just love her (and I’m still mad ABC canceled “Pushing Daisies”, but that’s a whole different post). Anyway, this is a great album & I’m so glad I got a chance to listen to it, I’m definitely a Joshua Bell fan now!

And Now for the fun part, the Giveaway! You can win your own copy of “At Home With Friends” , thanks to One2OneNetwork.

Required Entry, Leave a Comment: Which song do you think you would like best on “At Home With Friends” ?

For Extra Entries (Leave a Separate Comment for each extra entry):
1. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via email (on my sidebar near the top)
2. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via RSS HERE
3. Follow me on Twitter HERE (leave your twitter name in the comments)
4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave a link (you can use: ” Joshua Bell At Home With Friends Cd Giveaway @frugalfritzie | Ends 10/13 http://retwt.me/B19V ” )
5. Add me as a friend on Facebook HERE

Contest will conclude on Tuesday 10/13 at 6:00pm Central. Winner will be selected by random.org. Winner has 24 hours to respond, if there is no response, I will randomly select another winner.

Thanks to One2OneNetwork for the cd to review this album.

Wow, I got to checking and it’s been a couple months since I had a coupon giveaway. Well, I say it’s high time for another one! I have over 200 coupons to giveaway with a total value of over $300, this is a huge variety that will be of great use for one lucky winner!

Required Entry: What store do you get the best deals at in your area?

For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each extra entry):
1. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via email (on my sidebar near the top)
2. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via RSS HERE
3. Follow me on Twitter HERE (leave your twitter name in the comments)
4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave a link (you can use: ” Over $300 in Coupons Giveaway-1 Winner! @frugalfritzie | ends 10/12 http://retwt.me/zUn7 ” )
5. Add me as a friend on Facebook HERE

Contest will conclude on Monday 10/12 at 6:00pm Central. Winner will be selected by random.org. I’ll mail to the winner to any USA address. Winner has 24 hours to respond, if there is no response, I will randomly select another winner.

And don’t forget to enter my other giveaway HERE!

Harry Connick Jr.’s brand new cd “Your Songs” has just been released on 9/22.

“Your Songs” Album Track Listing (Originally performed by):

All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
Your Song (Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

Hear him for yourself on his upcoming TV appearances:

9/28 – Today Show
9/29 – The View
9/30 – Imus in the Morning
9/30 – Letterman
10/1 – Today Show
Week of 10/5 – Rachael Ray

You can listen to samples of each track HERE and you can become a Facebook Fan of Harry Connick, Jr. HERE.

Harry Connick, Jr.’s career has been loaded with awards and recognition, including several multi-platinum and gold albums, Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards, Cable Ace, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, and much more. Definitely an icon! It’s also well worth noting that Harry grew up in New Orleans, LA and has been working with Habitat with Humanity & Branford Marsalis on the “Musician’s Village” project, an effort to rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

When I hear Harry Connick Jr.’s voice, the first thought that pops into my head is “like butter”. He just has such a rich, silky voice that he is oh, so easy to listen to and his new album is no exception. The tracks on this album have a jazzy big-band feel to it and it is a very enjoyable album. It’s perfect for an evening snuggled up next to a warm fire with a good book and a glass of wine.  One of my favorite songs was “(They Long To Be) Close To You”, I thought it was a great version of The Carpenters classic. I do have to say that the song I was most looking forward to hearing was the song I was most disappointed in and that was “Smile”. It seemed a little light,  this poignant song just seemed to be lacking something. Other than that though, this was a very enjoyable listen, a great combination of songs. If you enjoy big band music or you’re a Harry Connick Jr. fan, you’re sure to love this album!

And Now for the fun part, the Giveaway! You can win your own copy of “Your Songs”, thanks to One2OneNetwork.

Required Entry, Leave a Comment: Which song do you think you would like best on Harry’s “Your Songs”?

For Extra Entries (Leave a Separate Comment for each extra entry):
1. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via email (on my sidebar near the top)
2. Subscribe to Frugal Fritzie via RSS HERE
3. Follow me on Twitter HERE (leave your twitter name in the comments)
4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave a link (you can use: ” Harry Connick Jr. Your Songs Cd Giveaway @frugalfritzie | Ends 10/5 http://bit.ly/ptB7B ” )
5. Add me as a friend on Facebook HERE

Contest will conclude on Monday 10/5 at 6:00pm Central. Winner will be selected by random.org.  Winner has 24 hours to respond, if there is no response, I will randomly select another winner.

Thanks to One2OneNetwork for the cd to review this album.

Book Description

Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.

They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison of unlocked doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out?

Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, or doubt, what would remain? Envision a day, just one day, where you could trust more and fear less.

Can you imagine your life without fear?

Review

This was a very easy, quick read and I enjoyed it. I think it’s a topic that is very relevant in today’s world, there just seems to be an endless amount of things to fear nowadays. I like the message by the author that with faith, anything is possible. With faith, you have an endless amount of support and can live without fear. Pretty powerful stuff! I think we need more reading material like this, more positive messages like this and reminders how strong a tool faith really is. I thought this was an inspirational read and would recommend it to anyone who’s feeling they’ve kind of lost their footing a bit.

About the Author

In almost 25 years of writing, Max Lucado’s books have been sold 65 million times. He is the only author to have won three Christian Book of the Year awards. In 2005, Reader’s Digest magazine dubbed him “America’s Best Preacher” and in 2004, Christianity Today magazine called him “America’s Pastor.”

His works have appeared on every major national bestseller list including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and Christian Booksellers Association. He has been featured in countless media outlets and national broadcasts.

Fearless is available on Amazon HERE.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for a copy of Fearless and a chance to review this book. Please note that I was not compensated for this review.