ECHO SHOW 10 with motion: can be placed in any room but the kitchen is where it had us swoon. With the swivelling action makes it handy for busy dinner hour for following recipes and whatever else comes to mind while your hands are busy prepping a meal. Easily order needed food and ingredients, keep track of guest list RSVPs, command your favourite holiday tunes, see who’s at the door, turn off lights and even gather decor inspiration for your next party. You can also ask your Echo device to remind you of a task or add it to your to-do list to ensure that nothing gets forgotten all hands-free. 

Echo device for Kids: designed for the kid’s space this sweet device is great for bedtime stories playing soothing music, and even helping with homework. With no camera access it’s a smart device that’s well thought out for families.

Apple AirTags: this affordable and handy little device has proven to be great for all ages and for many reasons. For travellers concerned about misplaced luggage (we’ve seen these in action), grandparents searching for keys, frenzied parents with their handbags and workbags, the kid’s backpack or coat, and even attached dog and kitty collars. Paired to an iPhone it’s easy enough to locate your most valuable items.

Audible.ca: for the book or story lover give their eyes a break from screens with a subscription to audible.ca. Members get to pick a title they’d like to keep each month including best sellers, new releases, podcasts and original audible content. They will also have access to the Plus Catalogue with unlimited listening to thousands of books.

SiriusXM: the gift of music that can be enjoyed by anyone with access to an incredible library of songs, dedicated channels, genres, playlists, podcasts and more. A year’s subscription is a super idea for someone who doesn’t ask for anything. They’ll be able to start with their favourite holiday channel!

Philips Hue White & Colour Ambience Gradiant Light Strips: are a real hit with teens. This flexible strip of lights can be attached around desks, windows, doorframes for an added touch of light decor. They change colour to cast light that’s a fun and unique effect to any space.  The lights can also be voice controlled with Amazon Alexa or Google Assist when paired with compatible devices.

Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote: For the person who loves their streaming services this helps streamline them in one easy remote. Access thousands of channels, Alexa skills, and apps – Including Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, and CTV. (Subscription fees may apply). Get unlimited access to thousands of movies and TV episodes included with a Prime membership. You can also watch your favourite live TV, news, and sports with subscriptions to Sportsnet, CBC Gem, Red Bull TV, and others. There’s also access to free TV -including YouTube, CBC Gem, ICI TOU.TV and Tubi.

Shark HydroVac Cordless Pro 3-in-1: for condo dwellers this affordable and efficient home appliance that vacuums mops up floors and carpets quickly and self cleans! The antimicrobial brush-roll helps to prevent bacterial grown and neutralizes odours. The dirt separates itself from solid gunk and dirty water, which makes it easier to clean the tank. And the best part is it cleans itself once you place on the charging dock. The upright design means it’s also easy to store away by not taking up too much space.

Shark FlexStyler: This impressive system brings several versatile  styling tools into one simple bundle starting with Shark’s sleek compact air dryer. Using the latest technology with less heat it’s offers a fast way to dry, volumize, smooth and/or curl into many styles. The base hair dryer has a swivel point that bends into ideal angles for optimum styling. It’s also at a more affordable price for a the whole system making it one of the most sought after styling tools in the marketplace this year.

Dyson Pet Grooming Kit: great for homes with shedding dogs! This handy grooming kit attaches to compatible Dyson vacuums and helps to manage furry dog hair by capturing loose hairs and allergens as your brush. Then the bristles full of hair self-cleans in an instant keeping hair and dander minimized in the home. Our review is here.

And if you’re looking for a new video game to add to someone’s collection check out Steve’s reviews on our site…

Marvel’s Midnight Suns  (reviewed on PS5)

God of War Ragnarök (reviewed on PS5)

Gotham Knights (reviewed on Ps5)

Splatoon 3 (reviewed on Nintendo Switch)

Saints Row (reviewed on PS5)

Turrican: Anthology Vols. 1 & 2 (reviewed on PS4)

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (reviewed on PS4)

The Quarry (reviewed on PS5)

Silt (reviewed on PS5):

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In this 10-episode series, Hernandez brings laughter to these terrifying times with short side-splitting scenes fueled by the absurdity of our lives while facing the edge of existence. Imminent Disaster features a roster of exciting comedic voice talent from the BIPOC community such as Tita Collective’s Alia Rasul and Scarborough’s (the film) Cherish Violet Blood to bring these scenes to life. These quick-witted scenes are unrelated, allowing there to be countless episodes of hilarity.

We had a chance to catch up with Hernandez recently to learn more.

What an exciting Fall season it has been for you! First the TIFF accolades on Scarborough adapted from your book and now you’ve got an audible comedy series!  What made you decide on diving into the world of audio with comedy?

CH: Thank you! This year has been one blessing after another and I feel grateful for the support of my fans and colleagues. As a queer brown woman who was once a single mom, I have survived some pretty traumatic things and the only way I could get through without completely breaking down was to find humor in it all. That’s why comedy has always been a part of the art I create. From film to books, I love writing material where it hurts to laugh and it feels good to cry. When Audible invited me to pitch an Original series ideas to them, I knew I wanted to create a sketch comedy show that would help people giggle through the absurdity of our times. I wanted a show that said everything people want to scream at the sky but can’t.

You will have guests on your series, can you tell us more?

CH: My cast is made up of some of the most exciting voice talent from the BIPOC community. Folks such as Alia Rasul from the groundbreaking Tita Collective and Cherish Violet Blood who blew audiences away at this year’s TIFF presentation of Scarborough, will bring my scenes to life.

Where did the name of the audio series come from?

CH: I wanted the series to capture the cloud hanging above everyone’s heads right now: the possible end of our species due to climate change, the pandemic and worldwide political unrest. The ludicrousness of this chapter in history — possibly our last one — is a sketch comedy show unto itself. So I decided to call it what we are all facing: Imminent Disaster.

How much freedom did you have with audible.ca to develop this series?

CH: The great thing about Audible.ca is that I very rarely had to censor myself, which is pretty apparent in the writing. I was able to discuss things in great detail about my reality living as a queer brown woman that I know would have been nixed in another format.

Are there any subject matters you wouldn’t touch in sketch comedy?

CH: I don’t create comedy that encourages beliefs that endangers groups of people and their safety. There is a lot of material out there that doesn’t question the humanity of certain communities. Writers, performers and producers can always do better.

You’re an author and a playwright but how did you get here… into sketch comedy?

Comedy has always been a part of the work I create. It is easy for me to find the funny, even in the most terrifying, most depressing subject matters. Crafting ridiculous scenarios based on real-life events is natural to me and this show gave me the opportunity to share it with you all.

I graduated from theatre school but I have never been formally trained in writing. I am just a curious person. I wrote my first novel because I just wanted to try it out, submitted it into a competition in the hopes of getting feedback and was given an award for the unpublished manuscript. I wrote my first screenplay because I just wanted to see if you could write a fiction film but make it look like a documentary, and it became the hometown darling for TIFF 2021. Needless to say, my curiosity has paid off. With this series, I decided to just have fun and commit to paper — and the mic — my feelings about the world we live in.

So, what made YOU laugh during our months of lockdown?

CH: I hate saying this, but I rather enjoyed following celebrity breakups on social media. Breakups are difficult enough as a regular person, but give a celebrity millions of followers and their toxic behavior gets magnified, much to my delight. I loved it when one of them would post a thirst trap of a pic, trying their best to look like they had moved on with their life. Meanwhile the other would post a sad selfie with a long poetic description about finding themselves. The best was when a rebound relationship was introduced. The exotic locations! The yachts! The product endorsements! I lived vicariously through their drama, all while wearing polka dot pajamas.

Do you listen to any podcasts, if so, any you loved?

CH: My absolute favourite podcasts of all time are Ear Hustle and Criminal. I love how these hosts ask questions and respect the dignity of their guests. Of course I must mention The Secret Life of Canada. My dear friends Falen Johnson and Leah-Simone Bowen tell the untold and undertold stories of this nation with unapologetic humor. I think the show should be required listening for all Canadians.

You can listen Catherine Hernandez’s Imminent Disaster here.

About Catherine Hernandez

Catherine Hernandez is an award-winning author and critically acclaimed screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her first novel, Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press), won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript. It was also a finalist for the Toronto Book Awards and was longlisted for Canada Reads. Her children’s books include M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book (Flamingo Rampant) and I Promise (Arsenal Pulp Press). She wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, produced by Compy Films, which had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by levelFILM. Her second novel, Crosshairs (HarperCollins Canada, Atria Books US, Jacaranda Books UK), was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and made the CBC’s Best Canadian Fiction, NOW Magazine’s 10 Best Books, Indigo Best Book, Audible Best Audiobooks, and NBC 20 Best LGBTQ Books list of 2020. She is the creator of Audible Original’s audio sketch comedy series Imminent Disaster.

The post Catherine Hernandez launches new audible original sketch comedy show ‘Imminent Disaster’ appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Gracie is mistaken by paparazzi for a famous Chinese actress in Toronto performing in a play. This incident leads to the actress hiring Gracie to be her double at public events, alongside her co-star and rumoured real-life love interest. It seems like a perfect scheme until sparks fly between Gracie and the leading man. Over the course of this unputdownable story, worlds are turned upside-down, enemies become lovers, and the genre’s most enduring tropes break out of their molds in the best way. How it ends? We didn’t see it coming!

More than your average rom-com, Toronto-based writer Lily Chu also incorporates the experience of first-generation-children-of-immigrant-parents and smart, subtle commentary on fame and fortune into an already rich love story.

The new Canadian Audible Original (available on audible.ca) launches on July 15 and is voiced by Phillipa Soo, who starred as Eliza in the beloved original cast of Hamilton.

We had a chance to chat with Lily Chu recently about this fun new story!

Can you tell us what inspired you to write this story?

LC: Inspiration for The Stand-In came from a few places. I wanted to write a book with a biracial main character who experiences the world in a similar way to myself, because there aren’t that many books where I see that reflected.

On the fun side, I wanted to write a light, entertaining story for people to escape into. I wrote this in winter/spring of 2020, so that element became increasingly important as the world changed with the pandemic.

How did you get involved with Audible in creating this?

LC: Audio is beautifully suited to romance because of the format’s ability to elicit strong emotional responses. The Stand-In will also be released in print next year, for those who want both.

We often talk about that “imposter syndrome” in life — many of us have felt that. But what’s different here?

LC: Imposter syndrome, love it. Who doesn’t enjoy feeling they’re going to be exposed as someone who has no idea of what they’re doing? It’s such a finicky beast because usually we really do have the skills, judgement, and expertise to do the job. Here, Gracie truly is a fraud and she has good reason to fear being caught out because she’s a literal imposter. But the great thing about Gracie is that, like many people, she also has the resources and determination to make it work—and she does.

Have you ever been mistaken as someone else?

LC: Not specifically, but there was a brief period when a few people asked if I had a twin who worked at a bar on the Danforth. I was thinking about this when I was plotting out the book, which for me always starts with a ‘what if’ question. ‘What if Gracie had a doppelganger and what sort of shenanigans would ensue’ eventually turned into ‘what if Gracie had a doppelganger who was famous and needed her help’?

If you could be like Gracie and step in for a celebrity who would that be?

LC: Assuming I have the ability to shape-shift, I’d pick Michelle Yeoh. It would be fascinating to experience the life of an actor at that level of her career. And Gracie might be a fast learner in Celebrity Impersonation 101, but I’ll need about a year of intensive training to gain even an iota of the necessary poise and sophistication.

Phillipa did a great job in helping us envisioning the different characters in the story. Did you offer any advice or your vision on the character voices?

LC: Phillipa did an extraordinary job of capturing the characters through their voices, and I particularly loved how she rendered Sam’s British accent. It’s interesting—the book wasn’t written specifically for audio, so there is an audio draft that removes lines such as ‘She sighed’ because they can be replaced with an actual sigh by the narrator. I put in comments on the audio draft regarding how I imagined certain scenes in audio. We also talked about how we envisioned the characters’ voices to sound to appropriately reflect their backgrounds and personalities.

Mostly I would have suggestions and Phillipa would counter with better suggestions.

Love all the Toronto references and you’ve really captured the feel of city life in such a subtle way both great for the local and those who have never been. You mentioned TIFF — and now we’re thinking this could work on the big screen. Did that cross your mind as you were writing this novel?

LC: It didn’t cross my mind at all, although I would love for this to happen! It would be great to see a movie where Toronto was filmed as Toronto and not a stand-in for Chicago or New York. I’m definitely one of those people who whispers, oh I think that’s University Avenue when I spot locations on the big screen.

We have so many interesting neighbourhoods that I find the city to be a constant inspiration. I do a lot of walking around when I’m thinking out ideas.

Who would you love to see casted in a movie version? (I’m curious about who you envision as the most handsome actor to fill these shoes?)

LC: Phillipa Soo would be a lovely Gracie / Fangli, of course. She brought such a depth and brightness to the character’s voice that seeing her create Gracie’s physical mannerisms would be fabulous.

I will put out to the universe that fellow Torontonian Simu Liu would make a fantastic Sam. He has that perfect balance of sexy thirst trap man and fun dude.

There are some incredible casting opportunities for that role and I would be totally on-board with sitting in on auditions if needed.

Sooooo, when are we getting a sequel?

LC: I have an idea for a sequel, but my next book will be a rom-com starring an uptight Toronto lawyer and impulsive K-pop singer, coming out in 2022. The draft is complete and I’m in love with the main characters, but I don’t want to give any spoilers.

And your final thoughts here?

LC: The Stand-In looks at complicated issues such as race, family, mental health, belonging, and the experience of being biracial. It’s also a great beach read with a romantic love story, I promise. I hope you love Gracie and Sam and Fangli as much as I do.

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