All Over Albany

The week ahead

The shocking truth: Gary Shteyngart never learned to read.

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look ahead to, or take care of this week -- from the weather (warm), to Jeopardy, to opera, to singing questionmarks, to comedy, to bubbly, to Gary Shteyngart...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: Warm -- highs in the low 40s. Blustery. Chance or rain/snow.

Tuesday: Cold -- highs in the low 20s. Windy. Wind chills around zero.

Wednesday: Sunny, warm again -- highs near 40.

Thursday: Even warmer -- highs in the mid-40s.

Friday: Cloudy, but warmer still -- highs near 50.

Weekend: Colder. Chance of rain.

Could be sloppy.

Valentine's Day

It's Monday, you know. If you were planning to go out for dinner -- and don't have reservations -- well, good luck. Here are the Valentine's Day specials Steve has collected. And if you're looking for something fun last minute, Akum can help you think outside the (heart-shaped) box.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

The classic film series at the Palace is showing Dirty Dancing Monday night. $5

Jeopardy

The three episodes of Jeopardy in which the supercomputer Watson takes on two human champions will be shown on a big screen at EMPAC, along with pre-show discussion by experts in artificial intelligence. The episodes air Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The EMPAC screenings are free, but you have to register.

Verdi

Proctors is showing a production of the opera Rigoletto, starring Placido Domingo, on Tuesday. The unique performance was recorded at multiple locations in Italy last fall. Proctors will be showing it in HD on its big screen. There are two screenings, at 2 and 7 pm. $20

Bubbly

The theme of this week's "Cooking the Tree of Life" talk at the State Museum on Wednesday is "Loving the Bubbly: Bread, Wine, and Beer." free

Laugh

Laughs on Lark is back at Elda's Wednesday night, this time with a lineup of five ladies. $5

Shteyngart

Novelist Gary Shteyngart will be at UAlbany Thursday as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. He's written a string of well-regarded novels -- and his most recent, Super Sad True Love Story, was on a bunch of best books lists in 2010. He'll be reading in that Performing Arts Center recital hall at 8 pm. free

Singing questionmarks

The concert/sculpture/performance "And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing," by Norwegian art collective Verdensteatret will be at EMPAC Thursday and Friday night. Actors and machinery interact to produce imagery and sounds. $15

Flurry

The annual Dance Flurry festival in Saratoga starts Friday and runs through the weekend. Advance ticketing is now closed, but you can buy tickets that weekend at the Saratoga City Center.

Music

+ Colour Revolt is at Valentine's Tuesday with Neighborhood Make Believe and Barons in the Attic.

+ "Improbable" organ/percussion duo Organized Rhythm is playing at Union College's Memorial Chapel Wednesday night. $10

+ Jazz drummer Eric Harland and his group are playing at Skidmore's Zankel Center Thursday night. (A Harland solo is embedded above.) $12

+ Rasputina is at Helsinki Hudson Thursday. $15

+ Alta Mira, Ashley Pond Band, Ben Karis-Nix, Holly and Evan are at Valentine's Friday night.

+ Tern Rounders are at Caffe Lena Friday night. $14 ahead, $16 day of

+ The Pink Floyd Experience is at the Palace Friday night. Tickets start at $27.

These are a just a few things for this week. Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

Look for our "Stuff to do this weekend" post on Friday.

The Palace and EMPAC have both recently advertised on AOA.