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 (sunny), to the red planet, to climate change, to bagels and sliders, to chowder, to music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Cloudy then sunny, windy. Maybe some snow. Highs in the upper 20s.

Tuesday: Sunny and 18.

Wednesday: Sunny and 20.

Thursday: Sunny and 70.... just kidding -- sunny and 27.

Friday: Repeat.

Weekend: Maybe some snow, around 30.

All that sun and temps in the 20s? Beach weather.

Arts and sciences

New discoveries from the Red Planet
Tuesday: Darby Dyar -- a professor of astronomy and geology at Mount Holyoke College who is one of the scientists on the Mars Curiosity rover science team -- will be at Skidmore for a talk titled "A Year in the Life of Curiosity on Mars: New Discoveries from the Red Planet." Tuesday 7 pm, Palamountain Hall - free

Climate change
Wednesday: Mark Lowery, a climate policy analyst at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, will be at Union for a talk about preparing New York State's communities for climate change. The talk is part of a series about energy supply in the 21st century. Wednesday 7 pm, Nott Memorial - free

Carolyn Forché
Thursday: The New York State Writers Institute visiting writers series starts its spring slate with an appearance by Carolyn Forché, "a poet who has used her art to document firsthand experiences of political strife and violent conflict around the globe." Thursday 8 pm, UAlbany uptown campus, PAC - free

Jade Sylvan
Thursday: The Frequency North series at Saint Rose brings slam poet Jade Sylvan to campus for a reading and talk. Her most recent book is Kissing Oscar Wilde. Book blurbage:

The book follows Jade on tour as she decides to replace her younger self's lipstick kiss on Oscar Wilde's newly-cleaned grave. Jade is accompanied by her best friend, a transgender photographer with whom she has a highly romantic creative friendship, who documents the trip with his camera. While the two artists scheme to navigate the whirlwind tour and return to Wilde's tomb in Père Lachaise, Sylvan decides to try to figure out her own fluid gender and sexual identity, and why she can't ever seem to love anyone the way she's seen in movies and read about in books.

Thursday 7:30 pm, Events and Athletics Center - free

The Mountaintop

Continues this week at Capital Rep: The Mountaintop, Katori Hall's play imagining a discussion from the last night of Martin Luther King Jr's life. (TU review.) It runs through February 9. Tuesday-Sunday various times - $20 and up

Cooking

A few cooking classes this week that could be interesting:

Bagels, Bialys and Pretzels
Tuesday: Deanna Fox is leading a hands-on class about making bagels, bialys, and pretzels at Different Drummer's Kitchen. Tuesday 6 pm - $65

Game Day Sliders
Thursday: Ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday, a hands-on class at Gio Culinary Studio about making sliders: fresh-baked slider rolls, beef short-rib slider, chicken meatball slider 2 ways (Buffalo and Parmigiano), pork belly slider, condiments. Thursday 6:15 pm - $65

Moles
Thursday: Julianna Glassanos leads a class at the Arts Center on making moles, specifically mole Poblano. Thursday 6 pm - $55

Gluten-free baking
Thursday: A hands-on class at Healthy Living Market on gluten-free baking for beginners. "You'll learn the ins-and-outs of GF apple galettes, GF muffins, and even GF chocolate chip cookies." Thursday 5:30 pm - $45

Couples Cooking Basics
Friday: A hands-on cooking basics class for couples at Gio Culinary Studio. "Student couples will learn to prepare a full dinner while working together, using professional and classic techniques that are easily duplicated at home." 6 pm - $110 (for two people)

Hoop

Great Danes
The UAlbany men's basketball team takes on Stony Brook at SEFCU Arena Wednesday (7 pm), and Vermont on Saturday (7:30 pm). Monday 7 pm - $5 and up

Saints
The Siena men's basketball team takes on Niagara at the TU Center Thursday (8:30 pm / women's game at 6 pm), and Quinnipiac on Saturday (7 pm). $12 and up

Looking ahead to the weekend...

The annual Saratoga Chowderfest is this Saturday in downtown Saratoga Springs.

Music

Tuesday: Frank Glazer at UAlbany PAC
Pianist playing Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel and Chopin. Also: he's almost 99 years old. He credits a study of anatomy for his longevity by learning how to play the piano more efficiently. 7:30 pm - $15 / $10 students

Wednesday: James Durbin at The Hollow
"Rawk" singer from American Idol.

Thursday: Lincoln Mayorga, "Gershwin in New York and Hollywood" at Proctors
Pianist and arranger playing the music of Gershwin. 7:30 pm - $25

Thursday: Brazilian Guitar Quartet at Zankel Center
Exactly what it sounds like. 8 pm - $8 / free for students and kids

Friday: The So So Glos at The Hollow
Indie punk. A free show thanks to EQX. With: The Slaughterhouse Chorus. 8 pm

Friday: Sonny Landreth & Cindy Cashdollar at The Egg
Slide guitarists. 8 pm - $28

Friday-Saturday: Eastbound Jesus at Red Square
The local "northern rock" group will be recording a live album over the course of two nights. With: Floodwood. 8 pm - $10 ahead / $12 day of

Friday: Albany Pro Musica High School Choral Festival at Troy Music Hall
Six high school choirs and the the Empire State Youth Orchestra Repertory Orchestra. 7:30 pm - $10

Saturday: Kathy Mattea at Troy Music Hall
A figure in country music for almost four decades. 8 pm - $20 and up

Saturday: Rock of Ages at Proctors
80s rock and hair band musical, on the main stage. 3 pm and 8 pm - $20 and up

Saturday: Drum Battle featuring Michael Benedict & Bopitude at The Egg
Featuring a lineup of guest drummers, culminating in a drum "battle." 7:30 pm - $20

Saturday: Beat*Shot Spins for J Dilla at The Hollow
Annual DJ show, proceeds benefit the J Dilla Foundation. 8 pm - $10

Saturday: Shari Kane & Dave Steele, Michael Jerome Browne at Caffe Lena
Blues. 8 pm - $18

Saturday: YellowJackets at Proctors
University of Rochester a cappella group. "And yes, their concert attire does include a yellow blazer." 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm - $25 / $20 students

Saturday: The Brain Cloud at MASS MoCA
"Gypsy jazz dipped in big band swing" dance party. 8 pm - $15 / $10 students

These are a just a few things for this week, not a comprehensive list. Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

The Arts Center, Capital Rep, and Troy Music Hall advertise on AOA.

photo: Joe Schuylers