I was very happy when invited to review Five for Fighting’s new album “Slice” by the One2One Network. I’ve been a fan since “Superman” and also loved “100 Years”.

John Ondrasik has done it again with this new album, co-written with Academy Award-winning composer, Steven Schwartz. It is truly a slice of life, telling stories with lyrical melodies and thought-provoking lyrics.

It is rare to be able to combine catchy smooth melodies with lyrics that actually have something to say, but, “Slice” has both.

I actually like all of the songs on the album, but there are some I love. My favorite is “Augie Nieto” (see video above). This song was written about Augie Nieto, a prominent leader in the fitness industry for nearly 30 years who received a diagnosis of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease in March 2005. He is now co-chairperson of MDA’s ALS division and very inspirational.

This song really touched me. Not only is the melody beautiful, but John’s beautiful lyrics of Augie, “two wheels closer to God” are just simple, poignant, yet totally uplifting.

I also love “Tuesday” with its beautiful melodic string arrangements which references 9/11 and about not forgetting what we learned that day.

“Chances”, which is the album’s first single, is also very upbeat, ending with “Chances are only what we make them… and all I need.” It speaks of how if you don’t take that chance, you may always wonder what might have been.

Other songs to check out include, “This Dance, “Nowhere Bar”, “Above the Timberline”, and “Story of Your Life.”

This album reminds me a bit of Elton John, Billy Joel, Snow Patrol, and The Fray. Yet, it is not really like any of them due to Ondrasik’s unique take on life.

It’s rare to me to find quiet in the upbeat, to find depth and meaning in the bright tempo. But, it’s there in “Slices” – and perhaps that’s what I love most about it.

Check it out on Amazon and iTunes.

Links:

To visit Five For Fighting’s website
Twitter
Facebook
John’s website for charity

This is definitely a challenge. Especially with school and friends. You can’t keep your family in a bubble – but there are ways to help protect them.

This season promises to be one of the worst cold and flu seasons, so we’re planning ahead.

We plan to keep up with the hand-washing, vitamin C, zinc lozenges, and to keep Boiron homeopathics onhand. I find them to be natural and without side-effects, unlike some of the traditional cold and flu meds.

I also firmly believe in homemade chicken soup. It’s light, nutritious, keeps you hydrated, and its warmth will soothe and comfort.

We also try to get lots of sleep to boost immune fuction and to drink lots of fluids, especially water and fruit juices. Herbal teas taste great and can help support your immune system as well.

I am a big believer in holistic health and in homeopathic products.

For years, we have been using Oscillococcinum by Boiron. Taken at the first sign of flu, we’ve had success at either stopping the illness or reducing its symptoms. I always have Oscillo on hand and recommend it to friends.

Homeopathics use natural substances in micro-doses to help the body heal and rebalance.

Boiron has Children’s Oscillococcinum especially for kids, Children’s Coldcalm Pellets, which help relieve cold symptoms, and Children’s
Chestal for coughs. They work safely and don’t interact with other medications. They are sweet tasting and do not have that “medicine taste”.

What’s great is that you can find these products in your local CVS or Walgreen’s as well as in your supermarket or natural food store.

Here you can get $1 off any of Boiron’s new children’s products.

Stay healthy!

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
– Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I was given the opportunity by the One2One network to review “Once In a Blue Moon”, a novel by Eileen Goudge.

Often I can tell a good novel by its first line, and this one from the book drew me in immediately:

“The first time Kerrie Ann disappeared was only the warning shot, as it turned out.”

Right away, I was hooked.

Once In A Blue Moon is a story of love, loss and redemption, of being torn apart only to join again stronger.

It is about finding your family, finding what is most important to you, finding yourself.

It is primarily the story of two sisters, Lindsay, and Kerrie Ann, nine years younger. When Kerrie Ann was just three, she and Lindsay were split up as their mother was imprisoned for selling drugs.

Their neighbor, an eccentric but fiercely loving retired exotic dancer, Miss Honi Love, tried to keep them, but, to no avail.

And, just that easily, they became lost to one another, and also, to parts of themselves.

Thirty years later, Lindsay owns a bookstore by the sea in Blue Moon Bay, CA while Kerrie Ann who has had a much rougher childhood is trying to stay sober and get her own young daughter Bella back. Bella was taken from her, much as Lindsay and Kerrie Ann were taken from their own mother. The difference is that Kerrie Ann would do anything to get her back.

And so the journey continues, with the sisters finally re-uniting, hesitantly at first and then slowly opening up once again to each other. The bond they forge while trying to help get Bella back takes them to an even deeper place of love and trust than either has known.

I really love Eileen Goudge’s style. Her voice is honest and authentic and full of originality. The prose is beautiful and so descriptive I could see Kerrie Ann’s “dirty pink Keds” and Miss Honi’s “marigold curls”.

I very much admire her ability to write a novel with an engaging plot and still keep the poetry of the language.

People in the novel are like people in real life – helpful, hurtful, imperfect, mistrustful, sorrowful, joyful, and loving. I appreciate this glimpse into humanity as it is, not some sanitized romanticized version.

Ultimately it is love and forgiveness that provide a path home – to one another, and to ourselves.

It is not surprising that Eileen Goudge is a New York Times Bestselling Author, nor that there are four million copies of her books in print including “Woman in Red” and “The Diary”. I loved this novel and am looking forward to reading many more of them.

I highly recommend Once In A Blue Moon.

Look for it in bookstores now and on Amazon.com.

To visit Eileen’s website

And to check out her Facebook page

To find Eileen on Twitter

I was given the opportunity to review Joshua Bell’s new cd “At Home With Friends” by the One2One Network and fell in love.

This cd is not merely a compilation, but rather an experience that simply washes over you and draws you in. I felt like I was invited into an intimate and somewhat magical world where only the music mattered.

It is rare and inspiring to me to find an artist as passionate about their music as Joshua Bell, so talented, so brilliant.

As I write this review, Joshua Bell’s cd is in the Billboard 200, #6 in Heatseekers Albums and #1 in their Classical Albums.

Produced by Sony Classical, this 16 song set features such talents as Sting, Regina Spektor, Kristen Chenowith, Josh Groban, jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, Anoushka Shankar and many others.

Together with Joshua Bell, each creates a beautiful synergy of virtuosity and love of music.

This set evolved from the informal jam sessions that Bell holds frequently at his home and I feel that this cd reflects that mood perfectly.

There is a very diverse range of styles here: Jazz, Opera, Classical, Pop and Latin among others.

I love just about every song on this cd and find myself playing it at the oddest times. I really love it that much.

“Come Again” with Sting seems to have a Celtic feel as it leaps and soars.

“Cinema Paradiso” with Josh Groban is richly beautiful and evocative.

“Para Ti” with its Latin beat had me ready to go dancing.

“Il Postino” is thoroughly charming.

In fact, all of these songs feel classic, yet completely new and fresh.

I usually don’t like my Beatles songs changed, but, I loved Josh’s interpretation of “Eleanor Rigby”. Frankie Moreno’s wonderful voice and phrasing accompanied by Josh’s poignant violin explore the mysterious soulful beauty of humanity.

In “Left Hand Song”, Regina Spektor was off the wall in a very good way.

“Variant Moods”, performed with Anoushka Shankar on sitar, and written by his father, Ravi Shankar, took me to a mystical dreamlike world.

This cd felt to me like Joshua Bell and friends were inviting us in to take a seat and simply experience music in its purest transformative state.

Simply magical.

Joshua’s website
Joshua’s Facebook page

Check out “At Home With Friends” on Amazon and iTunes!

I was first introduced to Harry Connick Jr. when watching “When Harry Met Sally”, when the New Orleans crooner infused such standards as “It Had To Be You” with amazing style and pizzazz.

Since then I’ve been a fan, watching him in movies, on tv shows and in concert.

I was excited to get the opportunity to review his new cd, “Your Songs”, which I received from The One2One Network.

Produced by Clive Davis, with appearances by Branford and Wynton Marsalis, “Your Songs” contains 14 contemporary pop classics orchestrated and performed by Harry Connick Jr.

This CD leaps off with a big band version of “All The Way” and it’s one of my favorites. I’m a big fan of Ol’ Blue Eyes and Harry does this timeless piece justice.

Harry’s voice is smooth like a glass of Bailey’s Irish Cream or Fred Astaire’s dancing.

I also loved his version of “Who Can I Turn To” and “Smile”.

Some that I didn’t care for as much were more modern pieces like Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” or Elton John’s “Your Song”. With those, I liked the originals better and missed Harry’s signature New Orleans flavor. The spice was lacking.

I did love “Besame Mucho”, which Harry said he sang for his Pops who spent a lot of time in Spain in the ’50’s.

I feel that this is a good mix of songs with a romantic feel. Harry’s voice smooths over a rough day and soothes and relaxes like a warm bubble bath.

While I do feel that this cd doesn’t have as much of Harry’s groove and spark as usual, I do feel that it is great for playing at a dinner party, having friends over, or when you just want to chill out and be mellow.

Lose yourself in the smoothness.

For a Behind the Scenes Look at ‘Making of’ the cd

To visit Harry’s website
And to check out his Facebook page

Look for “Your Songs” on Amazon and ITunes!

One of my favorites on AI this past year was Matt Giraud. Here he is goofing off with a friend. He asked people to send him twitter rhymes and made it into a rap. Good to see him having fun.

While twittering recently, I wondered if people are using technology more to communicate and losing the personal touch. I mean, we have Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and so many other networking sites. Now Yahoo and others have these applications right on their home pages. I love that.
People are always texting and phoning, but, how often do we get to see our friends?
I am happy to have a large network of friends online, but I am making it a point to have a huge bbq this weekend just so none of us forget one another’s faces :).

Speaking of faces, my new Dell has face recognition software. I think that’s pretty cool. I suppose it wouldn’t work so well if you had a twin though.

I listen to a lot of music, but, it is rare for me to find someone who is truly a rare bird.

Diane Birch is that fresh new voice whose debut album “Bible Belt” just came out this month.

Diane is in her mid-twenties, but she truly sounds like an old soul.

As I listened to her cd, so many of my favorite women singers came to mind: The Indigo Girls, The Dixie Chicks, Aretha Franklin, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Adele, Laura Nyro, Ricki Lee Jones, even Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday.

I truly questioned how someone could remind me of all these stellar women and yet be completely her own person, yet that is the paradox and the joy of Diane Birch.

Diane’s music has an eclectic feel and seems to encompass all sides of her personality and musical loves. Her life has covered a lot of ground thus far as well. She was born in Michigan, but spent her childhood traveling between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia before her family settled in Oregon.

Her father was a preacher, and, in some ways, Diane rebelled against the constraints that this placed on her. And, yet, what’s fascinating is that after all that rebellion, a lot of her early influences are part of her music now as she is inspired by church hymns and sings about angels, heaven and forgiveness.

Now, imagine taking blues, classic rock, du wop, and combining them with jazz and gospel and you’ll have a hint of what Diane’s music is about.

She’s also a brilliant piano player.

The cd opens with one of my favorites, “Fire Escape”. It’s a soulful sultry song about love and loss.

Diane’s music is the type that slowly saunters in wearing an unlikely hat. It beckons to you, seduces you, slowly charms you and soon you find yourself dancing in a familiar dream.

Her music speaks of heartbreak, of finding oneself, of life’s experiences – but even through the tears, it soars. Her music does not drag but instead finds wings, upbeat grooves to carry it. Another favorite, “Rise Up” is inspiring.

I have gotten so tired of people trying to be trendy, of musical fads that come and go, of formulaic overproduced pop. And, for me, Diane Birch is the antidote.

She writes all of her own songs and is a gifted musician in the true sense of the word. She is fresh and new, yet her music hearkens back to the 60’s and 70’s. In short, her music is timeless, which to me, is the very best thing to be.

I can’t really give it enough stars, but, I can say, give it a listen.
I really think you’ll love it.

Another favorite of mine is “Rewind”, about how you wish you could just
go back and press start again, but, you know you can’t.

“Valentino” has rhythms which, for me, are reminiscent of “Iko Iko”,
a popular New Orleans folk tune, covered by the Dixie Cups.
Honestly, there is not a song on this cd I don’t like.

“Bible Belt” was recorded in NYC and New Orleans with the same producers who collaborated on Joss Stone’s first albums. Diane is working with the best and it shows.

Diane Birch’s voice is heartfelt, full of soul, and completely fearless –
powerful, yet nuanced.

Her music is that of a true artist who needs to create to fulfill their
vision and their passion.

Sometimes you have to “sing the blues” – and sometimes the blues just have to sing, dance, and soar beyond the sky.

This is the magic of Diane Birch.

Check her out at Amazon, iTunes, and on her myspace page where she calls herself: ‘That Piano Girl’.

Diane Birch