For updates in real time follow @bumpershine on Twitter.

The new Joanna Newsom album meanders a bit (at 2+ hrs, this is no surprise), but on the whole, I think I like it better than Ys.

Mar 6 on SNL: Zach Galifianakis w/ Vampire Weekend. Mar 13 on SNL: Jude Law w/ Pearl Jam http://bit.ly/9BIwJL

Corinne Bailey Rae live in-store performance at Apple Store Soho on Mar 2 at 7PM http://bit.ly/6mmpfI

Meet Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass at the Soho Apple Store on Feb 26 at 6PM http://bit.ly/6mmpfI

Los Amigos Invisibles playing Rumsey Playfield at Central Park on Jul 31, 2010 http://bit.ly/az9auZ

Broken Bells at MHOW presale sells out immediately.

Does that picture of Pete Cashmore on his Twitter background make you think he is trying to pick up chicks or something?

RT @mashable Our top story today: “YouTube to Drop Support For IE6 Starting Next Month” – http://bit.ly/b4VEh8

RT @mashable Details: The Yahoo-Twitter Partnership – http://bit.ly/dBpFtY

@newyorkology Lots of presales today including Vampire Weekend, Julian Casablancas, Broken Bells & Andrew WK http://bit.ly/cUAgZO

Ted Leo playing short live set and karaoke at Knitting Factory BK on Mar 9, 2010 (record release day) http://bit.ly/cM26uH

Patrick Watson and Doveman, May 6, 2010, The Bell House (Brooklyn, NY). Tickets on sale soon. http://bit.ly/9LkaMh

Why do bands have to be so fucking coy about announcing NYC gigs? #HoldSteadyIsNotPuttingOutANewAlbumWithoutPlayingNYC http://bit.ly/aVupVj

Follow @bumpershine on Twitter for updates in “real time”.

Who says kid’s cartoons aren’t hip? Today Backyardigans segued from “Guantanamera” into something by Fela Kuti.

Meet twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey @jack at the Knicks game on Feb 27, 2010 http://tinyurl.com/knickstwitter & http://bit.ly/aCRLA2

RT @jonnyleather @bellhouseny Tomorrow I’ll be inside of you, spreading good vibes with The Subjects, ARMS, Uninhabitable Mansions and Frances!!!

Not sure if this a new thing, but NLM’s email sig now lists Arcade Fire as a client. No emails yet though.

@jeffmacarthur I also thought about getting the “Navigate” which has an LCD, but it’s 3x the price. http://bit.ly/ammy7o

I just ordered this headphone adapter for my iPod touch http://bit.ly/9lLguH

@newyorkology Konono No 1 playing Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell on Jul 15, 2010 http://bit.ly/bIpJGp

“Get Off Your Knees” tonight (Feb 23) at The Bell House w/ Sara Schaefer, Reggie Watts and Amelie Gillette http://bit.ly/cUi7te

May 8, 2010, Elizabeth Mitchell, Laurie Berkner and Friends, Haiti Benefit at Joe’s Pub http://bit.ly/9cXm3t

Apr 9, 2010, George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic All-Stars @ B.B. King’s. Tickets on sale now http://bit.ly/cuEBhz

Normally, these posts would be posted each day, but I’ve been out of town for the past little while (thanks for not robbing me), so I’ve collected a few days worth of tweets here. Follow @bumpershine on Twitter to get updates as they occur.

“Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” tickets no longer on sale. TM note reads, “Please note tickets will not be mailed until after July 1, 2010.”

Free Marriage Ref Tickets (Feb 24, 2010): Ricky Gervais, Madonna, Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld http://bit.ly/cOM5oA

Four Snoop Dogg CDs in the mail! It’s like my Birthday and Chanukah all rolled into one!

RT @livenationnyc Just Announced, Julian Casablancas @ Irving Plaza March 24th. Tix are on sale the Friday, Feb 26 @ 10 AM!

LOST: “The Final Episode” – A conversation with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (May 20, 2010) http://bit.ly/du8Fl1

Gogol Bordello at Irving Plaza (Mar 9, 2010) goes on sale today http://bit.ly/dwP0Bj

Allman Brothers to stream NYC residency http://bit.ly/beXrsA

Tiger’s “apology”, full of righteous indignation, it’s douchetastic!

The NJ Nets are moving to Prudential Center for the next 2 seasons.

Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3 playing Lakeside Lounge tonight at 10:30PM (Fri, Feb 19) http://bit.ly/cW0qxC

For those of you that don’t follow @bumpershine on Twitter, there’s lots of stuff there that doesn’t make the blog. Here’s some of what you missed today:

Kindle app for Blackberry (via @internetnews) http://bit.ly/92PFLM

Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) performing with Clogs at Bell House on Mar 24 http://bit.ly/9LkaMh Buy Tix: http://bit.ly/d8C6c7

NYTimes feature on Blue-Tongue Films fails to mention Joel Edgerton’s high profile gig as Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar http://bit.ly/devOdk

Gogol Bordello: Mar 9, 2010, Irving Plaza, New York, NY. Free Music Today Presale: Feb 18, 2010 Buy: http://bit.ly/91jEBC

OK so “Idol” outdrew the Olympics, but repeats on CBS outdrew a new episode of “Lost”? http://nyti.ms/aCJ7TP

Natalie Merchant at B&N Union Square Apr 14, 2010. New CD “Leave Your Sleep” hits shelves Apr 13 http://bit.ly/amhvND

OK MySpace, you are dying, but you still have a treasure trove of untapped RSS feeds. Get with the program, let’s publish those feeds!

Feeling weepy? MySpace to push real time status updates out to Google http://bit.ly/dthYUI

Tila Tequila releasing an EP. (Shame on me for tweeting that.)

Josh Rouse playing Bell House on Apr 28, 2010. Tickets on sale soon http://bit.ly/9LkaMh

Elvis Costello joins the already impressive lineup for Hal Willner’s tribute to Neil Young in Vancouver, BC http://bit.ly/9ODbcb

@cupide430 I uploaded El Perro Del Mar’s cover of The xx’s “Shelter” to YouTube http://bit.ly/c9Bu4w

The Bell House Upcoming Events (Email, RSS)
Union Hall Upcoming Events (Email, RSS)
Bowery Presents Just Announced (Email, RSS)
Presale Passwords and Promos (Email, RSS)
Bumpershine Upcoming Events (Email, RSS)
Bumpershine All Posts (Email, RSS)
Bumpershine FreshDirect Coupon Codes (Email, RSS)

As a Canadian, I am mildly perturbed by this.

PS This is a real screen cap. Google “Why Can’t” or “Why Can’t I” and see what the top suggestions are.

Wyclef Jean is a rock star in America, but the man is famous almost beyond comprehension in his native Haiti. He released this statement today (Jan 13) concerning the recent devastating earthquake near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

January 13th, 2010
STATEMENT BY WYCLF JEAN ON HAITI EARTHQUAKE

NEW YORK—The following is a statement by Wyclef Jean on yesterday’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti:

“Haiti yesterday faced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake – and several very strong aftershocks – struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.

I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now.

President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands ‘ready to assist’ the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible.”

Many people have already reached out to see what they can do right now. We are asking those interested to please do one of two things: Either you can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill), or you can visit www.yele.org and click on DONATE.

Other worthwhile organizations accepting donations for Haitian earthquake relief are: Doctors Without Borders, The American Red Cross, and The American Jewish World Service.

Neil Diamond sings “The Chanukah Song”

In other news, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently penned an “extremely catchy” new Chanukah song:

Read the story behind this song over here.

And speaking of his colleagues, he told me they all love the song, especially the Jewish ones. Frank Lautenberg loved the song, he said; Russ Feingold loved the song. Joe Lieberman, however, found it “troubling and dissapointing.” No, just kidding! Lieberman loved the song as well. [Jeffrey Goldberg @ The Atlantic]

And to my Canadian friends, I wish you a “Happy Thursday”.

Diana Mini from Lomography

What is the Diana Mini you ask? Well, it’s the little sister of the Diana F+, but more specifically, it’s an analog camera that shoots a retro square format with an amazing half-frame feature that allows you to pack 72 shots onto one roll of 35mm film! Check out some more detailed specs on the Diana Mini below:

DIANA MINI FEATURES
• Square and rectangular half-frame formats at the flick of a switch
• Takes all types of 35mm film
• Shoots up to 72 shots per film on half-frame mode
• Shoots up to 36 shots per film on square mode
• Requires standard 35mm film development
• Ultra-compact and pocket-sized
• Multiple exposure functionality
• ‘B’ mode for long exposures
• Cable release attachment – a Diana first!
• Sunny and cloudy exposure settings
• Tripod mount
• Diana Flash Plug (Diana Flash available separately)
• Overlap frames across photos for endless abstract panoramas
• Compatible with the stunning Diana Flash

Full Square Frame

Half Frame

View everything else you need to know about the Diana Mini over here.

Fill out this entry form after the jump for a chance to win your very Diana Mini. Contest ends November 22, 2009 at 11:59 PM EST. A random winner will be notified and selected on November 23, 2009. Contest is only available to US residents, 1 entry per household, multiple entries will be disqualified.

Tonight (Nov 10) is the 12th Annual WhiskyFest at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square, NYC. The event lasts from 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM and will feature “200 of the world’s finest, rarest, and most expensive, single malt and blended Scotch, Irish, bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Welsh, Canadian and other whiskies from around the world”. Speaking of fine malts, I just received an email from the good people at The Balvenie and they informed me that they’ve got a new limited edition 17 Year Old Madeira Cask which will be available for tasting at tonight’s event— judging from the picture, it looks quite delicious*.

The Balvenie 17 Year Old Madeira Cask

If you can’t make the Whisky Fest, the master distillers at The Balvenie are holding a series of private tastings of the new 17 Year Old Madeira Cask for Warehouse 24 members throughout the month of November in select cities around the US. To RSVP for these exclusive events in DC, Austin TX, Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles, head on over to thebalvenie.com and create a Warehouse 24 profile. Once you become a Warehouse 24 member, in addition to receiving emails and the like, you’ll also be able to keep track of your entire whisky collection online through their new “whisky shelf” application. (I checked this thing out a little, and while having the ability maintain a list of your own Scotches is nice, the bigger benefit of this application is being able to see what the rest of the community thinks of each bottle.)

* Full disclosure, I have requested a sample of this Scotch to confirm that it is, in fact, delicious. To any other distillers who might be reading, feel free to send me your most expensive bottles of Single Malt Scotch (hell, I’ll even take some nice blends), and I’ll be more than happy to write about them in this space.

Delta Airlines has signed a “new and exciting” sponsorship agreement with Madison Square Garden and according the @MSGnyc Twitter Feed, they are giving out free Metallica tickets today at Grand Central. Upon further investigation, it seems like it is more like “a chance to win tickets”, rather than a guarantee.

Brand ambassadors will be around New York City and at Delta’s local terminals through Saturday, October 24th handing out scratch and win boarding passes.

Check out the list of dates and times for all the giveaways below.

Delta is now the Official Airline of Madison Square Garden.

To celebrate the partnership, Delta and MSG are offering fans exciting discounts and the opportunity to win flights on Delta and tickets for upcoming sporting events and concerts at The Garden.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009
TIME LOCATION
8-11 AM LaGuardia Airport Terminal
8 AM-2 PM Columbus Circle
8 AM-2 PM Grand Central
11 AM-2 PM Madison Square Garden North Mall
5:30-10 PM Madison Square Garden North Mall

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
TIME LOCATION
8-11 AM LaGuardia Airport Terminal
8 AM-2 PM Bryant Park
8 AM-2 PM Times Square
11 AM-2 PM Madison Square Garden North Mall
6:30-10:30 PM Madison Square Garden North Mall

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
TIME LOCATION
8 AM-2 PM SoHo
8 AM-2 PM Washington Square Park
11 AM-2 PM Madison Square Garden North Mall

The always interesting Open House New York is happening around town this weekend (Oct 10-11). New to this year’s Open House is OHNY Kids! which consists of tours, workshops and special family-friendly sites spread throughout the city.

Programs By Day
Saturday October 10, 2009
Sunday October 11, 2009

Programs By Borough
Brooklyn
The Bronx
Manhattan
Queens
Staten Island

Download the full weekend guide over here.

If you’re in the market for a new Nano or possibly a new iPod Touch, you might have noticed that they seem to cost the same about everywhere you look. However, if you’re looking pay less than retail, there are a few outlets where you can save a buck or two. Costco carries iPods at their brick and mortar locations, and as of this weekend, the iPod Nano 8GB was retailing for $139.99, which is $10 less than MSRP. They didn’t have anything else in stock at the time, but if my memory serves me correctly, when it was $399 everywhere else, the 32GB 2nd Generation iPod Touch used to sell at Costco for $369. In terms of other bargain locations, Adorama (on 18th St in Manhattan) typically has the best prices for iPods across the board. Before the new models were announced, Adorama was selling the 32GB 2nd Generation iPod for $359, which was the lowest I’ve seen it offered anywhere, online or offline. I’m not sure what their pricing will be on the new line of iPods, they should be getting them in stock towards the end of this week. The only catch of course, with buying an iPod from Adorama is that you have to be able to get to the store and while Manhattan is a big city, there a still a lot of people who won’t be able to take advantage of the in-store special. Finally, Amazon.com itself is actually a good place to get a discount on an iPod even before you employ the methods I’ll be talking about below. For instance, if you check the site right now, you’ll see that the new Black iPod shuffle is $59.00 (instead of $79.98) and the new 8GB iPod Touch is $189.99, $10 below MSRP.

More on how to get 10% at amazon.com after the jump.

So, what’s this you say about getting an additional 10% off at Amazon? How does one do it you ask? Well, it’s easy, more of less, if you’ve got a little patience and access to at least 2 Amazon.com accounts. First things first, pretty much anyone and everyone can get 4% off any Amazon.com purchase if they buy the item through an affiliate link. To sign up for the amazon affiliates program, go to amazon.com/associates and fill out the application. Once you become an associate (membership is free), you’ll be able to generate URLs for items that look a little like this: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002L6HDQA/YourAssociatesID. Then, anytime someone buys an item using your link, you will earn a 4% commission on the sale. The only catch with the Associates Program is that you cannot purchase an item for yourself with your own referral link. So here’s where the second account comes in: I’m sure most people know someone with an amazon account aside from themselves, a spouse, a parent, a close friend, etc., you get the picture. So as not to violate the terms of the associates program, you need to get them to purchase the item for you, which is fairly simple: you just send them the link with your ID in it and then they buy the item, and presto you get 4% off. Granted, you need to square away the finances of the transaction and make sure that person ships you the item and doesn’t pocket it for themselves, but if it’s someone you trust, it’s unlikely that that will happen.

OK, so I’ve described how to get 4% off, but where does the other 6% come from? Well, the remaining 6% also involves a little bit of planning I guess, but it’s not really so difficult. The other day, when I was purchasing an Amazon.com gift card, I realized that I could earn a commission on that transaction, so I used my Associates ID and bought the gift card through the following link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067L6TQ/bumpershine-20. That purchase earned me a commission of 6%, and while I didn’t use the GC for myself, the thought occurred to me that I could have used it in combination with one of my own purchases. If you’re a little confused by what I just said, here’s a summary of the “three special steps” you need to get 10% off any qualifying purchase (auctions and zShops item are excluded) at amazon.com:

1. User 1 signs up for Amazon.com Associates program
2. User 2 purchases a gift card using user 1’s referral link (earning 6% cash back for user 1) and sends to user 3.
3. User 3 buys an item using user 1’s referral link and sends it to user 1 (earning 4% cash back for user 1)

Alternatively, (but this method is untested), you could do this:
1. User 1 signs up for Amazon.com Associates program.
2. User 2 purchases a gift card using user 1’s referral link an chooses “print gift card” option. (This will definitely earn 6% commission for user 1.)
3. User 2 buys item for item user 1 using user 1’s referral link and the gift card they have just printed out. (I’m not 100% certain this step will garner an additional 4% commission, though I suspect it will work just fine.)

Pretty simple right? OK, OK, OK, it’s not that simple, especially if you actually have to involve two separate members of your family to do the deal, the far easier method is to have one Machiavellian user with control over multiple accounts run the whole show (not that I am advocating that in any way). Good luck, but most of all, don’t blame me if you screw it up!

Hey, I always post about the Tourneau sample sales, so here you go people:

Famous Brand Name Watches*
(New and Pre-Owned Watches)
*Excludes Rolex and Patek Philippe

Also a selection of:
Fine Jewelry and Writing Instruments (Yay Pens!)

50% – 70% Off Retail Prices

Saturday, Sept. 12th through Thursday, Sept. 17th, 2009
9:00am to 6:30pm Daily

To be held at:
SOIFFER HASKIN
317 West 33rd Street
Must have photo ID to enter the building
Credit Cards Only (No Cash or Check Accepted)

Strollers not allowed. No children under 12 will be admitted.

PS I went to the last one, and while I didn’t buy anything, there were deals to be had.