Random Bump

Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia Released

Vol. 1 on Paperback

Vol. 1 on Kindle

The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia was released in paperback and on Kindle.

Authored by Jaimie Vernon this two volume set continues where Rick Jackson’s “Encyclopedia of Canadian Rock, Pop & Folk Music” left off in 1994 and includes information on Canada’s pop scene from 1949 up to 2011.

Each 400 page, alphabetically indexed volume features biographies and discographies for Canada’s most popular recording artists, as well as photographs of these artists. So it is definitely a must for the Canadian music fan.

By the way, the Kindle version can also be viewed online via your browser using Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader and on other devices using one of Amazon’s Free Kindle Reading Apps.

Men In Black III Pre-Order ?!

Men In Black III was just released in theaters and it is already available to pre-order from amazon.com.

Also included with the pre-order is an offer for a free movie ticket to see it in theaters. I took advantage of an offer I had previously mentioned on this blog.

May The 4th Be With You

John Williams Conducts John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy - John Williams

It’s Star Wars Day and I thought I’d post an entry about the very first soundtrack I’ve ever loved independently from the film on which it was featured.

In 1984, my brother bought the original soundtrack for Return Of The Jedi on cassette. And it was incredible.

Until then I had loved soundtrack music but never an entire soundtrack from start to end. I had only liked the odd theme from John Barry, mostly from James Bond films.

This soundtrack, which featured The London Symphony Orchestra, included variations of the original Star Wars themes composed by John Williams and new themes like “The Parade Of The Ewoks“, “Luke and Leia“, “Lapti Nek” and the superior “Ewok Celebration” finale.

Though I like the new “Celebration” theme, I prefer the original soundtrack and I find “Jedi Rocks” annoying and distracting in the Special Edition Release of the film.

Unfortunately the original soundtrack from 1983 and 1990 re-release of this soundtrack are no longer in print. And two of my favorite tracks from this soundtrack, “Lapti Nek” and the “Ewok Celebration” (a.k.a “Yub Nub“) cannot be found on the many re-releases and compilations issued since.

Apparently the labels believe these particular pieces are way too dated to include them on their discs, although one can find new and used copies of the 1990 re-release on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Another one of my favorite soundtracks from the franchise is the “Episode I: The Phantom Menacesoundtrack, which was again composed and conducted by John Williams.

Duel Of The Fates” stands out as a theme and the other compositions on this soundtrack are as excellent, regardless of the film’s less than impressive dialogue and characterization.

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack released in 1999 and limited, double CD Ultimate Edition released in 2007 are still commonly available in the United States. The 1999 release is also available on iTunes in Canada.

Special Offer – The Avengers

An offer like that of the MIB III offer mentioned yesterday on this blog is available from Amazon.com, this time for a discount towards The Avengers movie tickets.

The offer, which is available to Canadians and Americans, requires a purchase of a specially marked DVD which includes a code that can be redeemed for up to $12 off a single ticket purchase.

When the DVDs are purchased from Amazon.com, the codes are sent by email 48 hours after the orders are shipped.

Similar offers are also available at Future Shop locations through-out Canada on many Marvel cartoon DVD titles, for a limited time only. And in Canada the discounts can be applied to tickets at Cineplex Theaters.

MarvelStore.com

Special Offer – Men In Black III

Just thought that I’d mention that yesterday’s re-release of MIB and MIB II on DVD and Blu-Ray in Canada and the United States includes a $10 off coupon code for MIB III theater tickets.

The specially marked discs have a blue and gray sticker on them and though I purchased the Blu-ray discs at a local store, it appears that the UPC codes match with May 1st, 2012 releases sold by Amazon.ca.

Though also released on May 1st, the Amazon.com releases include offers for Ultraviolet cloud downloads and therefore have different UPC codes. But the $10 e-Movie Cash offer is still mentioned on Amazon.com.

Canadians and Americans will be able to redeem their e-Movie Cash codes starting on May 23rd, 2012, when the Movie Cash site is officially opened.

The Canadian codes can be redeemed at Cineplex Theaters across Canada as long as MIB III is in these theaters.

UPDATE : These codes can also be redeemed at Empire Theaters.

Season Four of Arrested Development

Just learned that Season Four of Arrested Development will be made available to Canadians via Netflix !

Ten episodes are scheduled to be released in early 2013 on the service. I will update this entry with additional information a.s.a.p.

BTW, Seasons 1 through 3 are currently available on iTunes
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