"...Featuring" by Norah Jones- Review & Giveaway

Thanks to the lovely people over at One2One Network, my toes have been tapping this week to the cool, smooth new sounds from Norah Jones.  Her latest album, "...Featuring," releases next Tuesday, November 16th, and I was graciously granted the opportunity to give it an early whirl.

...Featuring is a star-studded collection of the multi-platinum selling, multi-Grammy Award winning singer's musical collaborations from the past decade.  The 18 songs on the album include cool cameos, collaborations and duets with such legends as Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton, and with 21st century icons from OutKast to The Foo Fighters.  The tracks on ...Featuring span Norah's entire career and reveal her astonishing musical versatility, from jazz to country, hip-hop to rock.

The track listing for ...Featuring is as follows:

1. Love Me – The Little Willies 
2. Virginia Moon – The Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them – Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It's Cold Outside – Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider – Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart – Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part – El Madmo 
8. Take Off Your Cool – OutKast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better – Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day – Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John – Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again – Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta – Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John – Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin' In – Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark – Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This – Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou – Norah Jones featuring M. Ward

My thoughts on ...Featuring:  If you've enjoyed her other albums, then I'm relatively certain you will like this one, as well.  It's basic Norah Jones stuff... nothing out of the ordinary.  I admit I was hoping she would bring some new things to her musical table; but, apart from the guest artists on each song, there really wasn't anything that stood out as vocally different or new.  I still very much enjoyed the album, because let's face it-- Norah Jones' soothing voice is like chocolate... good with just about anything!

Check out her website, Facebook page, and YouTube Channel for the latest news, tour dates and other information from Norah Jones.

•BUY IT•

...Featuring is available for pre-order from Amazon.  Reserve your copy here.

•WIN IT•
One reader of Keeping Up Klapper will receive a copy of ...Featuring by Norah Jones.
To enter the giveaway, choose to do any or all of the following actions, then leave a comment letting me know what you did:

*Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect. (1 entry)

*Subscribe to my feed via email or reader. (1 entry)

*Follow me on Twitter AND tweet about the contest. (2 entries for 1 tweet, per day)

*Go to the Facebook page and like Norah Jones. (1 entry)

*Share this giveaway on your personal Facebook page. (5 entries)

*Blog about this giveaway.  It doesn’t have to be a separate post.  Just include a blurb about it when you blog about other giveaways. (10 entries)

GIVEAWAY RULES:

Comments will close on Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST.  One comment per person, please (unless you do the extra entries).  US residents only.  Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated.  Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn.  Be sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each additional entry.

A cd was provided to me at no cost by One2One Network in order to facilitate my review.  I was not required to provide a positive review, only an honest one.  The viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

An Exclusive Opportunity to See "COOL IT"

Next Wednesday night, my husband and I will be joining various others in Music City for a free, prescreening of the new film documentary, COOL IT.  I'm really looking forward to getting a sneak peek at this new movie and its vision concerning climate change and other serious environmental matters.

Here is a short synopsis about the film:

While not directly a faith-based film, "COOL IT" takes a broad and challenging look at global climate change while it offers important environmental and social justice messages for everyone.  A call to stewardship that not only focuses on the planet and its resources, but also on its people.  There must be a healthy balance in caring for the least of our brothers and sisters as we become responsible caretakers of our planetary resources.  This documentary suggests an approach to tackling the sustainability of creation in light of awareness towards other global concerns such as world hunger, education and access to safe shelter and clean water.  In "COOL IT," environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg goes beyond global climate change to remind us of man's obligation to his fellow man.  He urges rethinking a "just throw money at it" approach in favor of one that will enable the critical investment of more resources to help benefit suffering people along with the planet we inhabit.  "COOL IT" offers an opportunity to offer another way forward for the entire planet with a message that will resonate with the world.  

Just this afternoon, I received permission to invite my readers to also participate in the FREE prescreening events already taking place around the country.  If you're interested in attending a prescreening of COOL IT, just follow these simple steps:

1. Access the following link to review the available events in your area: http://reeltruths.com/cool-it/events/
2. Click the "RESPOND / RSVP" link to confirm your seats (for you & your guests).
3. ENJOY the event! :)

A limited number of seats are available so be sure to reserve your tickets as soon as possible.  Leave a comment to let me know you're attending and/or your thoughts about COOL IT after the event.  I look forward to hearing your opinions!

Making a list & checking it twice...

Can you believe that Christmas is almost six weeks away???  

It's just unbelievable to me.  The older I get, Thanksgiving and Christmas really do seem to arrive faster and faster each year.  One of my favorite obsessions during the holiday shopping season is to hunt down great deals to make our money stretch the farthest.  It's pretty much a silly game to me that gets my adrenaline ridiculously surging.  This past week I made my Christmas list and began the search.  Already, I'm SO PUMPED about a few things we've purchased for our children.  Here are three of my most recent finds:

Imaginarium Classic Train Table with Roundhouse Wooden Train Set

Found this complete train table set from a seller on Craigslist for $85.00.  The set had only been used a handful of times and every single piece (including the table) is in MINT condition.  Not a scratch or mark anywhere.  We were beyond thrilled to find a set like this without having to pay full retail.

KidKraft Deluxe "Let's Cook" Kitchen

This wooden kitchen runs around $130-$150 and I picked one up, brand new in the box, at a local Essex store for $79.99.

Melissa and Doug Wooden Easel

This easel is listed on the Melissa and Doug site for $69.99.  I grabbed a brand spanking new one at Essex for $22.99.  SCORE!

Finding quality gifts at great prices is really a lot of fun.  I can't wait to see what will pop up next in my bargain escapades! 

National "UnFriend" Day- November 17th

This snippet from Jimmy Kimmel is so funny and so true!

Wordless Wednesday

Back when I began my blog at the beginning of 2010, I started my own meme titled "Frame-It Friday."  I used Fridays as a day to share recent pictures for our family and friends to view.  As of today, I'm discontinuing that theme and will be joining other bloggers each week for "Wordless Wednesday."  So here we go!