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 basketball rivalry, to science and history, to comedy, to half-naked sprinting, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: Cloudy, rain in the evening, highs in the mid 50s.

Tuesday: Still cloudy, more rain, slightly colder.

Wednesday: Partly sunny - highs in the mid 40s.

Thursday: Colder, but sunnier. Highs around 40.

Friday: Same.

Weekend: Mostly sunny with a chance of rain on Saturday. 30s.

It's almost like it's actually December.

Saints and Great Danes

The Siena and UAlbany men's basketball teams renew their annual rivalry this Monday night at the TU Center. (The game will also be on TW3 and ESPN3.) Watch for UAlbany's Gerado Suero, who's averaging 21 points/game. 7 pm - $16 and up

Arts and Sciences

Robert Caro
Biographer and historian Robert Caro will be at The Egg Monday for "an engaging evening of conversation" with historian Harold Holzer. Caro is most famous for The Power Broker, his biography of NYC urban planner Robert Moses. More recently, Caro's been working on a multi-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson. The night is part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting series -- but note that there is a charge for admission 7:30 pm - $10

Ethan Allen
Biographer and historian Willard Sterne Randall will be at UAlbany Tuesday as as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. Randall's work focuses on the American Colonial and Revolutionary War periods. He'll be talking about his most recent book, Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. (Here's a review in Slate.) Allen was apparently quite the complicated character. Randall will be giving a lecture at 4:15 pm in the Standish Room, Science Library, Uptown Campus. His reading and talk is at 8pm in the Huxley Theatre at the NYS Museum. free

Art and the scientific process
Robert Lue, biologist and director of life sciences education at Harvard, will give a talk at EMPAC Wednesday on the topic of using art to express and advance the scientific process. 6 pm - free

iEAR Grad Show
"Oscillations," this year's installment of RPI's Electronic Arts Graduate Show, will happen on Sunday, and will feature works by grad artists Sena Clara Creston, Allison Berkoy, Heidi Boisvert, Alejandro Borsani, Anton Hand and Joshua Thorson. In the West Hall building at the RPI Campus. 4 pm - free

Laughs on Lark

The monthly comedy night is back at Elda's on Wednesday. This month's lineup includes Matt Kelly, Kevin Marshall, Matt Mitchell, and illusionist David Boyd. Plus: members of Mop and Bucket "acting out your best and worst holiday memories." 9 pm - $5

Santa Speedo Sprint

As mentioned, this year's Santa Speedo Sprint is Saturday. There's still time to sign up to run. And even if you're not running, it's a lot of fun to watch and cheer. The sprint itself is at 2 pm, starting and finishing at Lark and Madison in Albany.

Model trains

This weekend the Schenectady Museum's annual holiday display of O gauge Lionel model trains returns. At noon on Saturday and Sunday. Free for members, $7.50 for adults, children $5, seniors $6.25.

Historic Albany House Tour

On Sunday the Historic Albany Foundation's 9th Annual Holiday House Tour will give people a look into some of the city's historic and notable homes. In addition to the rowhouses, colonials and ranches that have always been a part of the tour, this year the tour is including contemporary homes from the 1950s. Noon - Presale tickets are available now thru Wednesday, December 7 at $19 for HAF members/ $24 for general public. Tickets then increase to $24/$29.

Holiday music

Thursday: The 5 Browns at Proctors
A holiday show from five siblings and five pianos. 8 pm - $20 and up

Thursday: Jim Brickman's "A Christmas Celebration" at the Palace
Brickman will presents his piano Christmas repertoire. 7:30pm. $32-$77

Saturday: The Nutcracker at Proctors
The Northeast Ballet's Company's annual production. There's also a Sunday performance at 2 pm. 7 pm - $20 and up

Saturday: Mountain Snow and Mistletoe at The Egg
Holiday songs and stories from Christopher Shaw and Bridge Ball's Mountain Snow Orchestra. There's another performance Sunday at 2 pm. 8 pm - $24

Saturday: Old Songs' "Nowell Sing We Clear: A Pageant of Mid-Winter Carols" at St. John's
The annual presentation at St. John's Lutheran Church in Altamont. 3 pm - $20 adults, $5 for children ages 12 and under

Music

Tuesday: Driftwood at Red Square
Shanty-rock with banjo, guitar and violin. 8 pm - $7

Thursday: The Black Ships at Valentine's.
With William Hale, Hawazin. 8 pm

Friday: The Dark Star Orchestra at the Palace
It might not be the classic Grateful Dead experience, but it is classical. 7:30 pm - $31

Friday: The JACK Quartet at EMPAC
From the blurbage: "A string quartet performance in two acts featuring three pieces from the 1960s to the present that play with conventions of music notation and performance, and a haunting 30-minute piece from the 1990s with an uncanny spectral interplay."8 pm - $18 general admission, $13 students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty and staff, $6 for Rensselaer students

Friday: Way Yes, Carl Daniels, Bailiwick at The Daily Grind (Troy)
Afro-pop and folk rock in show organized by Swordpaw and In Your Speakers. 7 pm - $6.50 ahead / $9 at the door

Saturday: Lyle Lovett at the Egg
The crooning alt-country songsmith is back. 8:15 pm - $58

Saturday: Deer Tick at Jillian's
A free show courtesy of WEQX.

Saturday: Ladies Auxiliary Ukulele Orchestra at Caffe Lena
"Something from every era, ranging from Mozart to Radiohead, all of which benefit from fresh arrangements and a vocal delivery with tongues buried firmly in cheeks." 8 pm - $16 ahead / $18

Saturday: Olivia Newton John at the Palace
Who doesn't love those songs from Grease? 8pm - $39.50-$59.50

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.

photo via Deer Tick Facebook