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 (chance of unusual frozen precipitation), to Valentine's Day, to a play date, to North Korea, to dance, to music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: A type of precipitation called snow -- it's crystalline and appears white in color. Highs in the mid-30s.

Tuesday: Warmer, a chance of snow and/or rain. Highs around 40.

Wednesday: Cloudy, a bit warmer.

Thursday: Chance of rain. Highs in the low 40s. Chance of snow in the evening.

Friday: Chance of some sort of precipitation -- highs in the low 40s.

Weekend: Sunny, mid 30s.

That's actually a bit like February.

Valentine's Day

It's Tuesday. The holiday originally started as a celebration of the feast of the the Catholic saint Valentine. The backstory on the actual person is cloudy at best -- though the general outline is said to involve a Christian priest who was killed in Rome during the 3rd century for marrying Christian couples and trying to convert the emperor. The celebration of the feast didn't take on an element of romance until Chaucer wrote about it in the 14th century. Paper valentines became popular in England during the 19th century. A woman in Worcester, Massachusetts -- Esther Howland -- is credited with popularizing paper valentines in the United States in the mid-1800s. It ended up being a big business.

A few things that might help you celebrate:
+ Local Valentine's Day gifts?
+ An unpopular place for Valentine's Day?
+ Tablehopping: Valentine's Day restaurant specials

But if you don't have a reservation at this point, you're probably better making dinner at home. You might have more fun, anyway.

Play date for grown-ups

The Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Club have scheduled a playdate for grown-ups Tuesday evening. It starts with a guided tour of the "Kids Stuff" exhibit of vintage toys at the museum, and then heads across the street to the club for dinner and game playing. The night is open to the public -- you don't have to be a member of the club -- but reservations are required: 463-1151. (Here's a photo tour of the club.) 5:30 pm - $15 (doesn't include dinner)

Love stories

The Front Parlor storytelling series is celebrating its one year anniversary Tuesday night at the Ale House in Troy. The theme for the night: "love." 7:30 pm

Arts and Sciences

North Korea
Author Adam Johnson will be at UAlbany Tuesday evening as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. Johnson's new novel, The Orphan Master's Son, is about North Korea. 8 pm - free

Lucky Dragons
Wednesday at EMPAC, from the blurbage: "Using an archive of Internet searches for the phrase "actual reality" as raw data for this process, acoustic sounds of musicians (and the audience) are analyzed and resynthesized in real-time and then presented back for reply, creating a call and response." 8 pm - $15

Coal
Journalist Jeff Goodell will be at Skidmore Thursday evening for a talk about the American coal industry. He's the keynote speaker in a conference at Skidmore about energy and the environment. 7 pm - free

Poemetrics
Thursday at EMPAC, from the onedotzero_adventures in motion series: "a series of shorts that looks at expressive moving image work, from treated live action to animation via motion graphics that are based on or inspired by poetry or poetic texts." 7:30 pm - $6

Penelope
Actor and playwright Ellen McLaughlin will be performing her one-woman play Penelope at Skidmore Friday night. The piece is modern story based on the story of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus in The Odyssey.

Laughs

There's a comedy show at The Egg Friday night to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The lineup includes a bunch of local performers you'll recognize -- among them: Greg Aidala, Matt Kelly, Jaye McBride, Carlisle Carey, and Benita Zahn (yep, that Benita Zahn). 7:30 pm - $20

Stomp

The touring company of the long-running percussion show STOMP will be at the Palace Friday and Saturday. The performers bang on all sorts of things: matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, and hubcaps. Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 7:30 pm - $29.50 and up

Dance Flurry

This weekend is the annual Dance Flurry festival in Saratoga (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). It's three days of dance, dance, dance, and more dance at sites all around the city. Advanced ticket sales are closed, but tickets will be available at the festival (cash or check).

Music

Tuesday: Hanson at Northern Lights
All three of the mmmBop kids are now married and they have a gaggle of kids. And they're releasing their own brand of beer. 8 pm - $25 ahead/ $28 day of

Wednesday: Tschaikowski St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra at Troy Music Hall
A Russian orchestra playing Russian composers -- Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov (odd drama about whether the orchestra actually exists). 7:30 pm - $40 and $45

Thursday: Pete Donnelly at Valentine's
Of The Figgs and NRBQ. With: Meg Duffy. 8 pm

Friday: Dryer at Putnam Den
Power pop trio back with a new song. With: Sgt Dunbar, and Houseboat. 10 pm - free

Friday: Olivia Quillio, MaryLeigh & the Fauves at Hudson River
With: Bethel Steele. 8 pm

Friday: OUTPOST1 at the Fuze Box
This month: DJ Sliink, Tony Quattro, and the usual residents. 10 pm - $5

Friday: Holly & Evan at Cafe NOLA
Blues. 7 pm

Friday: Sloan Wainwright at Caffe Lena
Sister of Loudon, aunt of Rufus and Martha. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $20 at door

Saturday: Brooklyn Qawwali Party at Proctors
Part of the Party Horns NYC series. 7:30 pm - $15

Saturday: Willie Nile at The Linda
Folk rocker, still kicking. 8 pm - $23

vintage valentines via Wikipedia