All Over Albany

A quick recap of the week

Here are a few highlights from the past week on AOA:

+ Soapbox: Kim invited people to her neighborhood for National Night Out.

+ Amanda asked about where to get shawarma.

+ It looks like HSBC is getting out of the retail banking biz here in the Capital Region -- so we asked people about their banks, and whether they'd recommend switching.

+ The music lineup for this year's LarkFest is out.

+ Joe asked about what those large tubes next to the ESP are for (and we got an answer).

+ Sometimes the toilet water just isn't blue enough.

+ Congress reached a deal on the federal debt-ceiling (and everyone just seems thrilled) -- a quick scan of how local reps voted and what they said about it.

+ New York consumers -- not so confident.

+ What was up in the Neighborhood this week: the apartment building that moved, a stolen bike, an olympiad, a comic shop, the Paint Mine trail, a living blob, DiBella's, perfect gnocchi, Trader's Joe's, a grating comment, a hidden gem, Vermont, bad pizza, the freeosk, and evidence the past was more fun.

+ Katie shared a report from ground zero of the spreading Gosling Fever.

+ We heard about the big plans for the Albany Barn, a live/work/community arts project.

+ A few of the items found on Craigslist this week: a cow cat, the grammar police, hotdog soup, and Hy Rosen sculpture.

+ The Virgin Alexander screening at The Spectrum was a lot of fun.

+ A Schenectady man had a landmark in Antarctica name after him (at least the second person from this area to be honored so).

+ Danielle pulled together a handful of local bike trails.

+ An alleged act of remarkable cruelty resulted in a police officer adopting a dog.

+ And we went bumper gawking yet again.

If you'd just like the whole week unfiltered, check our listing of the last seven days of AOA.

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment or shared a photo or idea this week!