All Over Albany

The week ahead

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look ahead to, or take care of this week -- from the weather (both lion and lamb-ish), to potatoes, to information theory, to art criticism, to serial killers, to music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: The week starts with everyone's favorite: freezing rain! The precip is expected to switch over to plain rain during the morning (where have we heard that before?). Chance of snow in the evening. Highs in the mid-40s.

Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the mid-30s.

Wednesday: Cloudy. Highs around 40.

Thursday: Sunny, but colder. Highs in the upper-20s.

Friday: A bit warmer, with a chance or rain.

Weekend: Cloudy, possibly rainy.

We're not sure whether this qualifies as a lion-like or lamb-like entry.

Hello, March!

March starts Tuesday. The end of winter is near.

Potatoes

This year's edition of the Cooking the Tree of Life series at the State Museum wraps up Wednesday with a program about potatoes. Scientist Roland Kays will be going over the evolutionary backstory, while chef David Britton cooks up potato-based dishes. 7 pm - free

Bits and bits and bits

Ace science writer James Gleick will be at UAlbany Thursday as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. His latest book is The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood, a history of information theory. His talk start at 8 pm in the recital hall of the performing arts center on the uptown campus. free

Mardi Gras food

New World chef Ric Orlando is teaching a cooking class about Mardi Gras food Wednesday evening at Different Drummer's Kitchen at Stuyvesant Plaza. $69 (if you're interested, you should call to reserve a spot -- it might already be full)

Arts and Sciences

+ New York Mag art critic Jerry Saltz will be giving a talk at Saint Rose Tuesday evening. Before NY Mag, he was with the Village Voice -- and you may have seen as a judge on Bravo's Work of Art. free

+ Astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet will be at EMPAC Wednesday evening for a discussion on "the relationship between principles of aesthetics and the study of the cosmos through the work of artists, philosophers, and scientists, from Plato to Kepler, and Dürer to Escher." The talk starts at 6 pm in EMPAC's cafe, which will be also be open. free

+ Former State Police investigator James Horton will be speaking about his pursuit of Capital Region serial killer Gary Evans Thursday night at the Sage College Albany campus. Horton's 13-year investigation was chronicled in the book Every Move You Make.

+ Bill Clinton's talk at UAlbany is Wednesday. But if you don't already have tickets, you're probably not going.

Music and Film

+ The Palace's classic movie series is showing the Sidney Poitier/Tony Curtis prison escape film The Defiant Ones Monday night. $5

+ Proctors is showing an HD feed of a Philadelphia Orchestra performance that includes the work of Tchaikovsky and composer James MacMillan on its "GIANT" screen. $18

+ Rapper -- and UAlbany student -- Brendan Martin is at Valentine's Thursday night.

+ Classical pianist Yefim Bronfman is performing at Union College Thursday evening.

+ Looking ahead to the weekend: Railbird is playing Putnam Den Friday night. Also Friday, Slender Shoulders, Platypus, Holly and Evan, and others are at Valentine's.

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.

Both the Palace and EMPAC have advertised on AOA.

photo via James Gleick