All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

From fusion food, meat and cider donuts to haunted hayrides, scary movies, great concerts and theater, this weekend is a feast of stuff to do.

After the jump, a sampler menu. Mix and match your favorites. And if there's something missing that you're going to try, share it with the crowd.

Whatever you're up to, have a delicious weekend.

Fusion
Tickets are still available for The Albany Barn's Fusion fundraiser at the Washington Park Lakehouse. Ric Orlando, Yono Purnomo, and other top local chefs will be create fusion-inspired food pairings. Also: pocket performances, live art installations, and other fun stuff. Friday at 7pm - $60

MoHu
The regional arts fest continues this weekend. The schedule of full of events that have been designated MoHu.

MopCo TheaterSports
MopCo's improv comedy smackdown continues this week. Teams of improvisers play against each other, making up scenes based on audience suggestions in the Whose Line is it Anyway style. This week MopCo. is upstairs on the second floor at Proctors. Guest judge is Albany Society for the Advancement of Philanthropy's Jim Larson. Friday night at 8 pm. $14, $6 for students and seniors.

Film

The Woodstock Film Festival
Filmmakers and film lovers from around the world are gathered in Woodstock for premiers, parties, screenings, lectures and more at the Woodstock Film Festival. On the list of films this year: Dear Governor Cuomo, a documentary about the recent anti-fracking concert and political rally featuring Natalie Merchant and Mark Ruffalo, a restored version of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Ride, and Vamps -- from Clueless director Amy Heckerling, and starring Alicia Silverstone. Ticket info.

Nosferatu -- with live music
Friday at the Sanctuary for Independent Media: a screening of the F.W. Murnau silent classic Nosferatu -- with a new score performed live by the Andrew Alden Ensemble. 7 pm - $10

The Exorcist and The Devils
It Came from Schenectady presents a demonic double feature: "The Exocist" and "The Devils". Friday at 7pm in the GE Theater at Proctors - $9 / $6 students.

Theater

Next to Normal
Schenectady Light Opera's production of Next to Normal, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical opens tonight. This is not Oklahoma. And it's not appropriate for really young kids. Next to Normal is the story of a family dealing with mental illness, and it's very well told in this production. Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm. $18-$28. Following Saturday's performance there's a late night cabaret for an extra $10.

Pride@Prejudice
Pride@Prejudice continues this weekend at Capital Rep. In this adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the cast shifts from character to character -- both from the story and from outside it -- folding in context about the story and Austen's life. The production runs through October 28. Before the Friday and Saturday night shows there's a free MoHu Mop & Bucket Improv performance that begins at 6:45. various times - $20 and up

9-5:The Musical
Molly McGrath stars in Home Made Theater's production of 9-5: The Musical, this weekend at Saratoga's Spa Little Theater. Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 pm - $26-$29

Blithe Spirit
Schenectady Civic opens its production of Noel Coward's classic comedy Blithe Spirit. Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2:30. $15

J.M. Coetzee and Paul Auster
Nobel Prize-winning South African author J.M. Coetzee and American writer Paul Auster will be at UAlbany Friday as part of the NYS Writers Institute's visiting writers series. Coetzee and Auster will be talking about their friendship and a body of letters the two have exchanged -- those letters will soon be published as a book. 8 pm Performing Arts Center uptown campus - free

Meat!
The Albany Society for the Advance of Philanthropy -- the people who bring you the Santa Speedo Sprint -- hosts its annual Festival of Meats and Celebration of Bacon on Saturday at the Albany Elks Lodge. Among the menu items on the menu: whole roasted pig, pulled and chopped pork with a vinegar peppery bbq sauce, roasted beef steak, kalbi, clams two ways, pork chops wrapped in bacon, bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeno peppers, pig candy, bacon-wrapped chicken bites -- and maple, peanut butter, caramel, and bacon ice cream sundaes. Bar opens at 4 pm, dinner at 6 pm. Tickets are $25 per person.

Makin' Bacon
Sunday at the Arts Center: The From Scratch Club's Erika Tebbens on home curing bacon -- the process, the science, "then we show you how to cure and season pork belly to turn it into the best bacon ever." 1 pm - $40

Downtown Albany Fall Car Show and Cruise-In
Classic cars will be parked all along North Pearl Street in downtown Albany on Saturday for the Fall Car Show. 11am-2pm - free

Music

Friday: Mayer Hawthorne, Cults at Skidmore
This year's Big Fall Show. (Tickets are open to the general public.) 9 pm - $25

Friday: Matthew E. White at Helsinki Hudson
A latter day Randy Newman (before all the music soundtracks), apparently. A 'fork fave. With: Liv Carrow. 9 pm - $10 ahead / $12 day of

Friday: Public Image Ltd. at Upstate Concert Hall
John Lydon's band. (You know, Johnny Rotten.) With: Lunic. 8 pm - $22.50 ahead - $25 day of

Friday: Felix Cavaliere at The Egg
Of the Young Rascals -- "All I really need is... good lovin'...". 7:30 pm - $29.50

Saturday: Deer Tick at Putnam Den
John McCauley and crew, back again. 9 pm - $20

Saturday: Zoë Keating at The Egg
Avant cello. "A one-woman orchestra, using a foot-controlled laptop to record layer upon layer of her exquisite artistry on the cello to create lush, compelling and otherworldly music." 8 pm - $24

Saturday: Waka Flocka Flame at Upstate Concert Hall
"Unrepentant street-rap hardhead." 8 pm - $22.50 ahead / $25 day of

Saturday: Oobleck at Valentine's
An album-release show for the five-piece funk band. With: The Ameros. 9 pm - $5

Saturday: Warren Haynes Band at The Egg
Guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule. 8 pm - $30 and up

Saturday: The Grand Slambovians at Proctors
Gandalf Murphy's band. Yep, Gandalf. 7:30 pm - $24 ahead / $26 at door

Sunday: Gwar at Upstate Concert Hall
Because other bands obviously don't wear enough foam latex. 7:30 pm - $18 ahead / $20 day of

Bach's Magnificat
The Albany Symphony Orchestra presents Bach's Magnificat at the Troy Music Hall. Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm - Tickets start at $19.

Nerd Nite
Saturday at MASS MoCA: Nerd Nite. An evening of "funny-yet-smart presentations" ranging from Mumblecore: The Film Movement that Didn't Roar, to Hey, Where's My Robot Girlfriend?, to Sperm Bots and the Future of Sexual Technology. Nerd Nite started in Boston and has spread to 50 cities around the world. 8 pm - $14 ahead / $18 day of / $10 students

Decoding the Brain
Friday at MiSci (the Schenectady Museum): Neurobiologist and Union Graduate College president Dr. Laura Schweitzer and her husband, Albany Med Neurology Chair Dr. Michael Gruenthal, will be giving a talk on the history of understanding the brain and approaches to brain/computer interfaces. Friday at 6:30 pm - free

Fall Festivals

Fallbany 2012
UAlbany is hosting its Fall Festival on the uptown campus Saturday morning with a farmers' market, author book fair, hot dog topping contest and more. (Former New York Times "The Ethicist" columnist Randy Cohen will be at the author fair.) The event wraps up with the homecoming football game at 1 pm on University Field. Saturday from 10am - 3pm - free admission

Upper Union Street Harvest Festival
Upper Union Street in Schenectady hosts its annual Harvest Festival on Saturday. Food, sidewalk sales an art show and kids activities. Saturday from 10am-3pm Free admission.

Oktobeerfest Near Saratoga
The Malta Drive-In will be open on Saturday afternoon for a German beer garden with food and craft beers, entertainment, games and contests. Saturday from 1pm-7pm. $8 for 12 and older. Under 12, $3.

Carrot Festival
Food, venders, a farmers' market, entertainment and more at the annual Carrot Festival at Congregation Agudat Achim on Union Street in Schenectady. Sunday 10 am-4:30 pm - free admission.

Scary stuff

Scare Fair
This is the first weekend for the Scare Fair at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds. Hay mazes and haunted houses for teens and adults. Every Thursday, Friday, Saturday through the end of October. Friday and Saturday from 6pm-10pm - $5

Haunted House and Haunted Hayrides
Classic Theater Guild and Indian Ladder Farms are doing a haunted house and haunted hayrides on Friday. 5-8 pm - $5

Twilight Cemetery Tour
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is offering a twilight tour of Greenridge Cemetery that will highlight the historical and architectural significance of the burial ground. Saturday 4-5:30 pm - $10

Corn Mazes
+ The giant corn maze at Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke is now open. Admission $10.50.

+ Wander the corn maze at Fort Ticonderoga. It's a six-acre maze with clues and a scavenger hunt. Open 9:30-4:30. $17.50 for adults, Seniors $14, kids $8. Under 5 free.

+ Samascott has a corn maze at its farm store in Kinderhook.

Pumpkin Patch Express
This weekend you can take the Saratoga North Creek Railway to North Creek to pick pumpkins. Saturday and Sunday, trains leave at 10am from the Saratoga Rail Station - $25 (under 2 free)

Children's books and collage
Saturday at the Albany Institute: children's book illustrator Elizabeth Zunon (earlier) will be reading My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Beardon's Childhood Journey (she illustrated) and leading a hands-on collage workshop for kids. 11 am - free with admission

Cider donuts
The 2012 FUSSYlittleBLOG Tour de Cider Donut has come and gone. But now that you have the results, you can go check them out for yourself.

Apples
This year's weird weather resulted in large crop losses at many orchards, so some of them don't have pick-your-own this year. But most of those orchards say they'll have apples available for sale in their farm store.

Farmers' markets
Farmers' markets are outdoors for just a few more weeks. Among the markets open this weekend: Troy (Saturday), Delmar (Saturday), Saratoga (Saturday), and Schenectady (Sunday).

Road trip
Fall is a great time of year for a road trip. Try a shopping trip to Northampton . But who needs new clothes when you have good beer and cheese -- maybe a visit to a brewery or cheese farm. And there's still time to take in a few flowers at the Berkshire Botanical Garden.

Take a walk
The colors are changing and it doesn't last long. This is expected to be the peak weekend in the Adirondacks and the weather should be lovely on Saturday. Before you head out, check out some of our favorite autumn walks.

Troy Music Hall, The Mop and Bucket Company, Capital Rep, The Albany Symphony, The Downtown Albany BID, and the Saratoga North Creek Railway are AOA advertisers. AOA is a media sponsor for the Albany Barn's Fusion event, and the ASAP's Festival of Meats.