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.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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.

Michael Jackson, who as a Jehovah’s Witness traditionally did not celebrate his own Birthday, is being thrown a large posthumous party by Spike Lee in Prospect Park on Saturday, August 29.

On Saturday, thousands are expected to fill the Nethermead meadow in the center of Prospect Park to celebrate Mr. Jackson’s life on what would have been his 51st birthday. The party, originally planned as a block-party-style gathering for 2,000 in Fort Greene Park, was moved to Prospect Park, which is larger, to accommodate a crowd that organizers believe could grow to 10,000.

The free event will be from noon to 5 p.m., rain or shine. [NYTimes.com]

In the new season we see this ultimate self-made man of midcentury America — outwardly confident but hollow at the core — smacked, like the culture he embodies, by the earthquake of the ’60s. “I started off writing the show as a scathing analysis of what happened to the United States,” Mr. Weiner said. “But the more I got into Don, the more I realized this is an amazing place. Something really did change in those years” — the late ’50s and early ’60s. “What would it be like to go to that place?” [NYTimes.com]

Hey, folks AMC’s most successful drama is back this Sunday, August 16, and if you live in NYC, you’ve got the chance to live like a MAD MAN for one whole week! Check out the NYC Mad Men inspired events below:

ALL WEEK LONG: Monday, August 10 – Sunday, August 16

Live like a MAD MAN! Visit the Hilton New York (1335 Avenue of the Americas) and the Millenium Hilton (55 Church Street), where the bars will serve up popular 1960s era cocktails, including a Brandy Alexander, Tom Collins and other classic “MAD MEN” inspired drinks.

Wednesday, August 12 – Saturday, August 15

In anticipation of “MAD MEN” Season 3, celebrate the style of 1960s advertising. Stop by the MAD (Museum of Arts & Design) Building at 2 Columbus Circle after dark, where an animated public art piece, inspired by the era’s advertising, is projected on the Building’s façade. The projections will feature some ads of the era, as well as Sterling Cooper’s most memorable client campaigns, including Popsicle and Belle Jolie.

Friday, August 14

The New York Mets Go MAD! Celebrate the 1960s, the team’s inaugural decade, and head to Citi Field, where New York’s National League team takes on the San Francisco Giants at 7:10 PM. The stadium will dedicate a special section to “MAD MEN,” where select lucky fans will receive “MAD MEN” inspired fedora hats. Mets fans can also enjoy “MAD MEN” inspired cocktails at select Citi Field bars.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16

Watch the “MAD MEN” Season 3 premiere live on the big screen in Manhattan’s Times Square at 10 PM. Fans can come dressed in their swankiest 1960s attire to enter a pre-screening costume contest starting at 8 PM, for a chance to take home a “MAD MEN” prize. The screening is FREE and open to the public. *Weather permitting*

For further event information, please visit www.amctv.com/newyorksgonemad

- info via DrakeLeLane

NYC DOT and our partners are proud to present Summer Streets. We will temporarily close Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and open it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays in August (August 8, 15, & 22).

Check out a list of today’s activities over here.

Grant Wilfley Casting is seeking a band of drummers (to play) for the feature film, Get Him to the Greek starring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. Shoot date is end of July in New York, NY. If interested and available, please email picture, and contact information to glory@gwcnyc.com.

Grant Wilfley Casting is holding an open call for background performers for Sex and the City 2. Seeking SAG and NON SAG to play: Fashion Models, Celebrity types, Upscale socialites, Urban Club goers, Gays and Lesbians, International types (Middle Eastern, Arabic, Asian, European, British), Professional Soccer Players.

Open Call:
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street
New York, NY
SAG: 10am- 12:30pm
NON-SAG: 1:30p-4:00p

From The Bell House to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in 30 mins or more, a hipster’s dream come true! (Lots of confused faces on the platform this morning though.)

This really has nothing to do with the 4th of July, it’s just a snap shot of the way I used to (but no longer) feel about New York.

Black v.2 – A Subway Poem
Originally Written around May 10, 2004
New York, NY

Black is the color you see
when you close your eyes.

Black is the top of
the hat of a man
who walks down
the street.
Black is the color
when you stare
down
at your feet.
Black is like a haze
when you miss too much
sleep.
Black is my jacket.
Black is my brain.
Black is the racket
blaring out the speaker
on the subway train.
Black is the tar
melting in the sun.
Black is the heat
rising from the ground.
Black is the color
of everything
all around.

The annual Salute to Israel Parade will take place this Sunday, May 31 in Manhattan and an expected one million spectators will watch the parade as it progresses up Fifth Avenue from 57th Street to 79th Street. After the parade, the 16th Annual Israel Day Concert will be held at the Rumsey Playfield in Central Park (aka Summerstage).

The concert will begin with greetings from political and Jewish leaders and will feature entertainment provided by Shloime Dachs and his Orchestra; Yaakov Chesed; Elron Zabatani accompanied by Israeli pianist Shlomi Aharoni; Pey Daled; Dr. Meyer Abittan; Baruch Abittan; Izzy Kiefer and Heshy B; Ariel Zilber; Chaim Dovid; Michael Ian Elias; Shoresh Klezmer Band; Hatikvah performed by Jerry Markovitz; with Master of Ceremonies Nachum Segal. [The Jewish Star]