All Over Albany

The week ahead

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from tea, to Star Trek, to turkey trotting, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: Partly sunny, with highs in the mid 40s.

Tuesday: Cloudy, highs in the upper 40s.

Wednesday: Rain. Chance of snow overnight. Highs in the lower 40s.

Thanksgiving: Sunny, highs in the upper 40s.

Friday: Sunny, highs in the low 50s..

Weekend: Some sun, chance of rain. 50s.

It's officially cold.

The Wrath of Khan

The Palace's classic movie series has Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan lined up for Monday. 7 pm - $5 ($3 for kids)

Cooking with tea

Professor Java's is hosting a "cooking with tea" class Monday evening, which will cover some basic techniques on cooking with tea and pairing dishes with tea. The entry price includes the class, as well as dinner and dessert. 6:30 pm - $12

Bookmarks

The Bookmarks series at the Arts Center for the Capital Region explores amateur artists who have undertaken major projects. On Monday: "Being Terrified and Doing it Anyway," with local writers including Elizabeth Thomas, David Wolcott and Frank Murphy read from their works of prose. 7pm - free

Architects at work

Husband and wife architecture duo Tod Williams and Billie Tsien will be giving a talk at EMPAC Tuesday as part of the architecture department's year-long lecture series. Among the buildings designed by their firm: the American Folk Art Museum in NYC and the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona, as well as some beautiful modern homes. 6 pm at EMPAC - free

Troy Turkey Trot

About 6,000 runners will take part in this year's five Turkey Trot races, a Troy tradition. Online registration closes at noon on Wednesday -- and there is no day-of registration. The Turkey walk starts at 7:45 am, the kids run at 9:15, the 5k at 9:45, and the 10K at 11 am. free - $20, depending on category

Dogs Also that morning: the annual Thanksgiving morning dog walk at Albany's Capital Hills golf course. Volunteers from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society will be there collecting donations to support the org. It's unstructured, so walk a little bit, and head back home for turkey. 9:30 am to noon - free (thanks, chrisck)

Albany Institute gift fair -- and LEGO challenge

The Albany Institute of History and Art will host its annual holiday gift fair and festival festival, featuring a bunch of local vendors of crafts and handmade present possibilities.

Also: a LEGO building challenge in which teams compete to see who can build the best LEGO version of Albany architecture (AOA Mary is a judge). Ace local LEGO builder Bill Leue will be there, working on his reconstruction of the historic (and now demolished) Trinity Church. (Registration is required for the LEGO challenge.)

Friday 10am to 5 pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday noon to 5pm - free

You'll shoot your eye out!

Proctors is showing A Christmas Story on Friday, in case you'd like to see it on the big screen (instead of non-stop on cable). 3 pm and 7:30 pm - $5

Funky marching bands

Also at Proctors, on Saturday: Drumline Live, which "brings show-style marching bands to the theatrical stage" (it's from the same people behind the movie Drumline). 8 pm - $20 and up

Acrobats

Sunday at The Egg: The Golden Dragon Acrobats, "acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes." It looks Cirque-ish. 3 pm - $22 adults / $15 kids

Music

Monday: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at Northern Lights
The reggae pranksters play. 7:30pm - $10-$12

Tuesday: Ray Davies at the Egg
The Kinks frontman will relive the days of the Village Green Preservation Society. 7:30pm - $39.50-$49.50

Wednesday: Guns N' Roses at the Times Union Center
The 80s heavy metal giants are still back on the road, a little worse for wear. 7:30pm, $55

Friday: The Erotics at Valentine's
With Society High, Demons Alley, Dogs Divine. 8pm - $7

Saturday: Jane Monheit and Mark O'Connor at the Egg
The two performers will offer up a rootsy show for the holidays. 8pm, $29.50

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

photo: Bill Leue