Apple Gift Card Offer
Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores are offering 5000 bonus PC Optimum points per $50 Apple Gift Card purchase until June 9th, 2023. Click here for more details.
Disney Day Offer Ends Tonight
New and eligible Disney+ subscribers have until 11:59pm Pacific today to subscribe to Disney+ for $1.99 for one month, $11.99/month afterwards.
I’m not being paid to promote this offer but I thought some of you might want to have it over the holiday season, for it’s content, which would include another Home Alone sequel, that I enjoyed last night.
Home Sweet Home Alone isn’t as epic as the first two films but it’s cute and features Archie Yates, the adorable scene stealer from Jojo Rabbit, which is also available on the service. And i’d say this Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell scripted comedy is comparable to Home Alone 3, which took quite an undeserved lashing on Rotten Tomatoes.
Yes, the fourth Home Alone film was boring and deserved to be a television release, but I liked Home Alone 3 as much as this new film, which doesn’t appear have a faired better with some purists on Rotten Tomatoes either.
It’ll appeal to kids and might be worth the $1.99 for parents. But I guess it’s “same old – same old” for some, which is fine. There is other content to watch on Disney+, although they haven’t yet added most the classic cartoons from the 40s and 50s I expected them to add by now, some of which I had purchased on DVD when the Walt Disney Treasures boxed sets were in print.
There are plenty of other classic films on the service to make a subscription worthwhile though, not like that awful Paramount+. I’ll get to that later.
In case you wanted to know…
Rakuten.ca will be offering 10% on purchases Black Friday, and I believe this may include purchases from Apple Music, Disney+/Shop Disney, DeepDiscount.com, eBay.ca, Fender Play, Henry’s, Lego Canada, Musician’s Friend, Ticket Network, Ubisoft Store and Walmart. They have cash back offers for 750 retailers.
A $30 Bonus offer is also available by clicking here.
Amazon.ca has also started its Early Black Friday sale, which includes sales on JBL speakers, Sony headphones and various musical and computer accessories. There are also some good prices on televisions.
Mark Your Calendars
Prime Day will be on July 15th & 16th this year. And Canadians can also get a free year of Amazon Prime by opening an All-in Banking Package account with Manulife.ca, provided you use this unlimited daily banking account to make 10 in-store or online purchases per month for the first two months you’ve had this account.
I’m not paid by the bank but thought you’d like to know. And yes, I do believe current Amazon Prime members would have their membership extended by a year on that offer.
By the way, you should keep an eye on Newegg.ca, who may also be offering deals to their Premier
members on these dates. And both Indigo
and Barnes & Noble
are also known to have competitive sales and discounts at the same time.
Gift Card Offers
Select Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart stores are offering 10% discounts on Google Play gift cards, whilst select Sobeys stores are offer 15% discounts on $50 and $100 App Store and iTunes gift cards.
The Real Canadian Superstore and Sobeys offers will end on December 19th, 2018. But the Shoppers Drug Mart offer will end on the 21st of December, 2018.
Some Uniprix stores are also offering $3 discounts on $50 App Store & iTunes gift cards until the 19th as well.
Please consult your local flyers for details. And don’t forget to keep an eye on them for future offers.
Music Biography Audiobook Recommendations
Audible is currently offering three free audiobooks to new subscribers (who are also Prime members) so I thought i’d bump a few of my favorites.
One of the first music biographies I purchased on audiobook was Ann & Nancy’s Wilson’s “Kicking and Screaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll“.
Those familiar with 70’s and 80’s rock will, of course, recognise those names as being those of the sisters that front “Heart”, a hard rock band that got first got their foot in the door here in Canada with the release of “Dog & Butterfly” on Mushroom, an independent Canadian label based on the west coast.
Narrated by the sisters themselves, this audiobook recalls their beginnings and meteoric rise through the music industry as one of the few female rock acts of the time. And having been a fan since the early 80’s, I found the book quite enjoyable and interesting – Especially when they discuss the histories behind my favorite tracks, like “Barracuda”, “Crazy On You”, “Alone” and “These Dreams”.
Another female rock autobiography I really enjoyed was Grace Slick’s “Somebody to Love?“, which I had also purchased on hardcover before downloading as an Audiobook.
Like Ann Wilson, Grace Slick is one of those memorable, powerful vocalists that one routinely hears on classic rock stations throughout the world, notably for 60’s anthems “White Rabbit” and “Somebody To Love”. And having only been alive since 1970 I was not around for Jefferson Airplane’s initial appearance on the world stage. But through Starship, I had started enjoying her talent.
Also narrated by the artist herself, this audiobook not only discusses her highly notable career in music but her activism and the consequences of conspiring to spike then President Nixon’s tea with LSD during an official White House event.
Seriously, if your interest in this audiobook isn’t peeked by my last sentence… 🙂
Speaking of drugs and rock & roll, another female autobiography I’d like to recommend is Belinda Carlisle’s “Lips Unsealed“, which is a quite candid account of this pop-rock singer’s struggles with cocaine.
In the 80’s, Belinda Carlisle had numerous hits both as the lead singer of The Go-Go’s and as a solo artist. But her addiction remained into the early 2000’s, cumulating into a binging incident in 2005.
Be assured, this audiobook isn’t dark and devoted to the grueling processes she had gone through to get clean. It is quite eclectic and interesting so I highly recommend it.
On a lighter note, I also recommend Dawn French’s “Dear Fatty” and Jennifer Saunder’s “Bonkers: My Life in Laughs“.
Yes, these aren’t music biographies but as a fan of British comedies, I had to recommend these autobiographies from the stars of French & Saunders, Ab Fab and Vicar of Dibley.
These are narrated by the comedians themselves and are hilarious, offering two different perspectives on the creation of the hit BBC television series and various other subjects. And if anyone asked me to recommend audiobooks from the genre, these two would top my list, followed by my recently acquired copy of “Classic BBC Radio Comedy: Rowan Atkinson’s The Atkinson People“.
By the way, the Audible‘s subscription fee is $14.95 per month, which kicks in 90 days after the free audiobook offer is accepted. And membership enables subscribers to obtain a 30% discount on audiobooks.