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 the weather (still weird), to Ryan Gosling, to cosmology, to documentary, to dance in the air, to Branford Marsalis, to Sean Rowe, to roller derby...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: Cooler, maybe some snow in the late afternoon -- more of a chance overnight. Highs in the low 30s.

Tuesday: Chance of snow in the morning. Cloudy. Warm. Highs in the mid 40s.

Wednesday: Cloudy, maybe rain. Even a bit warmer.

Thursday: Some sun. Highs in the low 40s.

Friday: About the same, but cooler. Highs in the upper 30s.

Weekend: Sunny. Highs in the low 30s.

Odd winter continues.

Risotto

Wednesday at Gio Culinary Studio in Vorheesville: a cooking class about the "Secrets to Perfect Risotto." The dishes on the class menu: crimini mushroom risotto , risotto Milanese, and arancini. You might have seen chef Gio Morina on the Food Network's Challenge show. 6:15 pm - $45

Drive

Ryan Gosling! In Schenectady! Again! Well, not exactly. Proctors will be showing the neo-noir film Drive, starring Gosling as stunt driver for hire (sounds vaguely familiar), on Wednesday. The film got good, though somewhat conflicted, reviews. 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:30 pm - $5

Cosmology

Theoretical physicist and author Alan Lightman will be at UAlbany Thursday as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. Lightman's most recent book is Mr. g: A Novel About the Creation. From a recent piece Lightman wrote for Harpers, "The accidental universe: Science's crisis of faith":

Dramatic developments in cosmological findings and thought have led some of the world's premier physicists to propose that our universe is only one of an enormous number of universes with wildly varying properties, and that some of the most basic features of our particular universe are indeed mere accidents--a random throw of the cosmic dice. In which case, there is no hope of ever explaining our universe's features in terms of fundamental causes and principles.

Lightman's Thursday evening talk starts at 8 pm in the Assembly Hall on UAlbany's uptown campus. It's free.

Slavery by another name

The new documentary Slavery By Another Name will screen at UAlbany Friday as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. From the blurbage:

Due to air on PBS in prime time, Slavery by Another Name (United States, 2012, 90 minutes, color and b/w) is based on Douglas Blackmon's 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the abuse of black prison laborers in the United States from the end of the Civil War through the middle of the 20th century.

UAlbany professor Sheila Curran wrote the script for the doc. She and Douglas Blackmon will be there to answer questions following the screening. 7 pm, Performing Arts Center uptown campus - free

Branford Marsalis

Famous jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis will be playing Proctors Friday with his quartet, and pianist Joey Calderazzo. Marsalis will be playing as a part of a duo (with Calderazzo), and quartet. Marsalis and Calderazzo recently collaborated on an album, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy. 8 pm - $20 and up

Sean Rowe

Back from touring around the world -- and kind of famous now -- Sean Rowe is playing Friday night at Helsinki Hudson. If you're thinking about going, you might want to get tickets early -- his last show in this area sold out. Festina Lente is the opener. 9 pm - $15

Beats

Friday at Red Square: a tribute to J. Dilla featuring a bunch of DJs, including DJ Trumastr. 7 pm - 21+ $10

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

Tethered

Saturday at EMPAC, the sort of performance you'd probably only see around here at EMPAC: Rodrigo Pardo + Bárbara Foulkes: Tethered: Vertical Performance. From the blurbage:

Two divergent artist-in-residence work in progress performances navigate vertical space through the tale of a man who slowly realizes he is living upside down, and a dance study of falling and floating that plays with perspective, time, and reality.

The first performance -- Rodrigo Pardo's FLAT, performed 40 feet in the air -- starts at 7 pm. The second -- Bárbara Foulkes' FLOTA, performed on free-standing walls -- starts at 8:30 pm. They're both free.

Roller Derby

The Albany All Stars Roller Derby is back in action Saturday at the Washington Ave Armory with a "Heartbreakers Ball" -- Darling Dames vs. Heartless Harlots. first whistle at 7 pm - $10 ahead / $12 day of

Proctors advertises on AOA.
AOA is a media sponsor of the Albany All Stars.

Sean Rowe photo: Christina Venditti
Alan Lightman photo: Alan Lightman via Wikipedia