May 9, 2012
Obama lauds Albany at NanoCollege, Rosamilia wants Hedley Building for Troy City Hall, Marylou's Whitney Ball days are over
The President was in town yesterday. In a speech at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering Barack Obama lauded the Capital Region as an example of a place where jobs are being created. "Now I want what's happening in Albany to happen all across the country," he said. NanoCollege CEO Alain Kaloyeros, thinks the presidential visit could eventually mean funding to expand the school. [AOA] [TU] [NYT/The Caucus] [TU]
At Tuesday's event President Obama laid out a "to-do list" for congress --including plans to eliminate tax incentives for companies to send jobs overseas, offer incentives to bring jobs back to the U.S. and cut red tape so homeowners can refinance their mortgages easily. [WNYT]
Meanwhile:
+A few people got to check out Air Force One[YNN]
+One Obama Fan was disappointed when the motorcade didn't pass her by. [TU]
+Jerry Jennings rescued some umbrellas.[WNYT]
A bit about how all that gets to be news.[AOA]
New York law enforcement agencies remembered their fallen comrades in a ceremony at the Law Enforcement Memorial at the Empire State Plaza onTuesday[TU]
Hundreds of gay, lesbian and transgender people were at the Empire State Plaza on Tuesday to lobby legislators for transgendered rights and the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.[TU]
Troy Mayor Lou Rosamilia and his administration are working on plans to make the Hedley building the new home of Troy City Hall.[Record] [TU]
After more nearly 40 years , Marylou Whitney has announced they're calling an end to the traditional Whitney Ball. Whtiney and her husband John Hendricksons say instead,they'll focus on efforts to help racing's backstretch community. [TU] [Saratogian]
HBO Ali movie shooting in Albany -- parking, traffic restrictions, action
The crew for the HBO film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight will be shooting in downtown Albany Thursday and into Friday morning. There will be significant parking and traffic restrictions on Thursday -- for example, sections of Washington Ave will be shut down for chunks of time. The list is after the jump.
Incidentally, you can also use the restrictions a guide for when/where to gawk at the filming.
A description of the film via the Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau (link added):
The film centers on the cultural icon's battle with the United States government over his refusal to serve in the military due to his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali was arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, and later stripped of his boxing title and had his boxing license suspended. While not imprisoned, he did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
The film is directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity). It includes stars such as Christopher Plummer, Danny Glover, Frank Langella, and Benjamin Walker (OK, not really a star yet, but he's Abe Lincoln in the upcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Yes, that's a real movie.) It looks like Ali will be appearing in the film as himself through archival film clips (which sounds a little odd).
Here's more about the story covered in the film from screenwriter Shawn Slovo. [Spectator (UK)]
photo: Ira Rosenberg via Wikipedia
Counting Crows in Utica
A few things: 1) Counting Crows are still kicking 2) Adam Duritz apparently still has the dreads 3) Counting Crows are playing at the Saranac Brewery in Utica on June 13 -- tickets go on sale this Friday, they're $36 ahead / $40 day of.
What's up in the Neighborhood
A clip from "The Beat of Officer Harris."
Among the topics in this most recent spin around the Capital Region's online neighborhood: Lark Street at night, the Albany Almshouse, how we treat animals, not finding a dog-friendly apartment, Rosary Beard, speakeasy vibe, restaurant value, the Tour de Hard Ice Cream, ridiculously fun ravioli, 20 words, the Crossings, waste places, and Fifty Shades of Gray.
Laurie Anderson named EMPAC's first distinguished artist-in-residence
Laurie Anderson will spend the next three years inventing stuff at EMPAC.
Experimental media and performance artist Laurie Anderson will spend the next three years at RPI as EMPAC's first distinguished artist-in-residence. Anderson has a history of using science and engineering to create new artwork, inventing things like a tape-bow violin and talking stick.
This isn't Anderson's first experience at EMPAC. In 2009 she spent some time there working on a piece called Delusion -- a series of stories about longing, memory and identity that incorporated multidisciplinary elements that included music, visuals, altered voices, and electronic puppetry.
You can get a little bit of a sense of Delusion (and Laurie Anderson's disenchantment with rectangles) in a video clip after the jump. Heads-up: it's not you -- the interviewer is speaking Swedish, but you'll understand what's going on.
Until now EMPAC's residencies have been project specific. There's no word yet on what kind of plans Anderson has for her three year stay in Troy, but EMPAC says it's looking forward to working with her to combine engineering and science to find creative approaches to the arts. They also say Anderson will be sharing some of her creative practices with the campus through lectures, workshops and demonstrations.
Photo: Leland Brewster courtesy of Laurie Anderson
Margaret Cho at The Egg
Comedian Margaret Cho will be at The Egg October 3. Tickets for the general public go on sale May 16. They're $28. Cho was here a few years ago and the show sold out. If you're interested in catching her this time, you might want to get your tickets early.
Sunmark Startup Grant voting leaderboard
We're about halfway through the voting for this year's AOA Sunmark Startup Grant. The leaderboard, as of Wednesday (May 9) afternoon, is posted in large-format after the jump.
Crowd voting will determine two of the finalists. And there's still time for a bunch of projects to claim those top two spots -- the middle of the pack is only about 100 votes out of the top two. (There have been more than 1000 votes so far.)
There are a lot of interesting projects this year -- you should have a look and check them out:
+ Albany Baby Book (a directory of Capital Region services for parents of babies)
+ Baker's Intuition (a bake shop in Troy)
+ Berrylicious Bouquets (bouquets made from berries dipped in chocolate)
+ Bridge Runner Express (a shuttle from Albany to Saratoga)
+ Car Sharing in the Capital Region (an independent car sharing startup)
+ Installation Art Exhibition (a multi-artist exhibition in Troy)
+ My Ride Board (a website for ride sharing)
+ PinkHouse Pottery (a pottery studio offering classes)
+ Real Time Albany (a website that tracks what people are talking about)
+ Saratoga Artisans and Crafters' Market (annual craft market)
+ Stories and Gables (a website for sharing the stories of old houses)
+ The Cheese Traveler and Tilldale Farm (a gourmet food shop)
+ Three Chicks and a P (hummus, bean dips, tapenades)
Big thanks to Sunmark Federal Credit Union for its continued support of the startup grant.
Those big TVs are so awkward to carry
Albany police say they arrested a man around 1:30 am Wednesday morning after an officer spotted the man walking down the street with an allegedly stolen television -- a 48-inch flat screen TV. The APD says the man told officers that "he had taken the television off the wall at a friend's house on Elk Street, after his friend had fallen asleep." In other news: the word "friend" is used so liberally these days.
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?