All Over Albany

Waiting for Gosling

Katie checks in from Niskayuna with a report on the spreading Gosling (and Cooper) Fever.

This past Monday at the dentist, I ran into Heather, whose Schenectady home will play the role of "Avery's father's house" in The Place Beyond the Pines. Not only will Heather's home get some fabulous new decor upgrades and painting (she can pick a color), but the plan is that Bradley Cooper will be swimming in her pool. (Cooper is playing "Avery.")

At this final revelation the assembled receptionists, hygienists, and patients could no longer contain their excitement and a chorus of delighted moans completely drowned out the ambient dental drilling and spitting.

This morning I arrived at my hair appointment to find almost every stylist had gone across the street to pass out cards and proffer salon services to members of the movie crew arriving at the First National Bank of Scotia on the corner of Nott Street and Balltown Road in Niskayuna. The crew is shooting today. It was still pretty quiet, and no stars were expected until lunchtime, but over at the salon, the ladies were already planning various walking excursions to fill their breaks.

Because they'd handed out cards, each time the phone rang, someone would call out hopefully, "Ryan? Bradley? Is that you?" There was also speculation about the stars' hair. The consensus: intimidating. Eva Mendes just has so much hair, and what if something went wrong and hurt Bradley's "luscious locks?" My stylist sighed. "Now if it were Seth Rogan, there'd be a lot less pressure."

While my stylist remained shackled to my chair, lopping off inches for my semi-annual cut, her co-worker, free of clients for the moment, turned her attention to her own hair in preparation for a walk to Starbucks. Half an hour later, I was looking pretty good and she was looking fab-u-lous.

If a massive proliferation of hair product alone can conjure Ryan Gosling, he will surely appear.

Katie is the editor of Capital District Fun, a site about things to do for kids and families in Schenectady, Albany, and Troy.

Earlier on AOA:
+ Scouting the places beyond the pines
+ An exclusive interview with Ryan Gosling's motorcycle