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 (eh), to beer, to George Saunders, to mediated matter, to internal clocks, to women and sex, to photography, to acrobats, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Sunny, windy, high 20s.

Tuesday: Rain and snow, highs around 40.

Wednesday: Cloudy, low 30s.

Thursday: Sunny, upper 20s.

Friday: Sunny, mid 30s.

Weekend: Maybe some rain and snow. Upper 30s

February doesn't always feel like the shortest month.

Presidents' Day

It's Monday, so stuff like banks will be closed. Presidents' Day is pegged to George Washington's birthday -- though that is actually February 22.

Toy Story

Proctors' AFI 100 classic film series is showing the original Toy Story Monday in the GE Theater. Monday various times - $5

Beer

It's Saratoga Beer Week. All week there will be beer-related events, specials, and whatnot. And there's a "beer summit" at the City Center Saturday with tastings from a bunch of breweries ($40 ahead / $50 at door).

George Saunders

Author George Saunders will be at UAlbany Wednesday as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. Saunders has won a bunch of awards and praise. His new book is Tenth of December: Stories, of which the NYT Mag said, in the title of a feature about Saunders, is "the best book you'll read this year." Wednesday 8 pm, performing arts center uptown campus - free

Arts and sciences

Mediated matter
Designer Neri Oxman will be at RPI Wednesday as part of the architecture program's lecture series. Oxman is an assistant professor at the famous MIT Media Lab and founder of the MaterialEcology lab. She's known for her bio there: "Her group explores how digital design and fabrication technologies mediate between matter and environment to radically transform the design and construction of objects, buildings, and systems." She was named to CNN's Next List in 2012, and here's Wired (UK) feature about her work. 6 pm EMPAC - free

Internal clocks
Skidmore geneticist Bernard Possidente will be giving a talk Wednesday: "Circadian Biological Clocks: How Flies Time When They're Having Fun." He'll be discussing related research on internal clocks in fruit flies, mice, and humans. Wednesday 8 pm Palamountain Hall - free

Women, Sex and Desire
Thursday at UAlbany: Women, Sex and Desire. Blurbage: "Part dance, part theatre and part talk show, the performance is a multi-media investigation on how women navigate sex, desire, choice and perception. It challenges stereotypes, assumptions and conventional wisdom along with reflecting the struggle, humor and pleasure we encounter as sexual beings." Thursday 7:30 pm and 10 pm - $15 / $10 students

Scenes
Photographer Gregory Crewdson will be at Skidmore Friday for an illustrated talk about his work. From a NYT T Magazine feature: "Suspicious fires, pregnant pauses and empty streets dominate Gregory Crewdson's photographs, which expose the dark side of Norman Rockwell's America to a "Twilight Zone" glow." And here's a NY Mag feature about him. Friday 6 pm Filene Recital Hall - free

Acrobats

Thursday at Proctors: a performance by The Peking Acrobats -- "treacherous wire-walking, trick-cycling, precision tumbling, somersaulting and gymnastics." (The guy who played Yen in the Ocean's 11 movies is an alumnus of the group.) Thursday 8 pm - $20 and up

Music

Whitehorse

Wednesday: Tiësto at Times Union Center
Dutch electronic DJ. Rescheduled from last fall at the Washington Ave Armory. 7 pm - $28 and up

Thursday: Titanics at Valentine's
Titanics have a new album, just out. With: Mary Leigh Roohan, Rabbit in the Rye. 8 pm

Friday: Tegan and Sara at Upstate Concert Hall
Synthpop. And they're identical twins. 8 pm - $22.50 ahead / $25 day of

Friday: The Wood Brothers at The Egg
Folk. Chris Wood is the Wood in Medeski Martin & Wood. 8 pm - $24

Friday: Livingston Taylor at the Massry Center
Brother to James. 7:30 pm - $25

Friday: Thruway: A Sing Off at Proctors
An a cappella show featuring groups from Union College, Bates College, and Connecticut College. 7:30 pm - $15

Friday: Caravan of Thieves at Helsinki Hudson
Vaudeville-esque. 9 pm - $12 / $15 day of

Saturday: Sean Rowe at Caffe Lena
Between touring in Europe and a US tour. 8 pm - $16

Saturday: Ken Stringfellow at Valentine's
Worked with R.E.M., The Posies, Big Star, and many others. With: Mod Fiction. 8 pm - $10

Saturday: Shawn Mullins at The Egg
The "rockabye" guy. 7:30 m - $24

Saturday: Bethany & Rufus Roots Quartet at Proctors
"A tapestry of American roots, Haitian rhythms & African desert blues." An 8th Step show. 7:30 pm - $22 ahead / $24 at door

Saturday: A Wall Street Odyssey at The Linda
A rock opera about "the profound economic, social and political events of the last 4 years." 8 pm - $15

Saturday: Paranoid Social Club at Putnam Den
Rustic Overtones relation. With: Mallett Brothers Band. 9 pm - $10

Saturday: Lucky Jukebox Brigade at the Parting Glass
With two Skidmore bands: Camper and HAP. 9 pm - $5

Sunday: Whitehorse at Valentine's
Roots rock duo (that sometimes makes use of odd instruments). 7 pm - $10

Sunday: Black Francis at Helsinki Hudson
You know, Frank Black from the Pixies. Rescheduled because of snow. With: Reid Paley. 8 pm - $25
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These are a just a few things for this week. Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

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photo: Basso Cannarsa/Random House