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 (workable), to film, to pot, to writers, to knife skills, to music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Sunny and 70.

Tuesday: Cloudy, more chance of rain as day goes on. Upper 60s.

Wednesday: Some sun, breezy. 55.

Thursday: Sunny and upper 50s.

Friday: Some sun, maybe some rain. Upper 60s

Weekend: Some sun, some scattered showers. Mid 60s.

We can work with this.

Film

Knickerbocker Film Fest
The Knickerbocker Film Fest is running this week at venues around Albany. This year's festival includes 12 films, from filmmakers local, national, and international. screenings are $10 each

The Blues Brothers
Monday: The classic film series at The Palace is screening The Blues Brothers, the crazy (in a good way) musical starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd with cameos from a bunch of soul music icons. Monday 7 pm - $5

City Lights
Monday: The AFI 100 series at Proctors is showing the Charlie Chaplin classic City Lights. Monday various times - $5

Arts and sciences

Marijuana
Monday: There's a "debate-style discussion" at Union College about legalizing marijuana featuring former leaders from the DEA and High Times (maybe you can guess which side they'll be on). Monday 7 pm, Memorial Chapel - free

Richard Ravitch
Tuesday: Former lieutenant governor Richard Ravitch will be at Albany Law for a talk titled "The Fiscal Challenges Facing Local Governments." (Ravitch is much better known as an expert on municipal finance than for his short term as lt. gov.) Tuesday 4 pm - free (registration required)

Ravitch has a new memoir, So Much to Do: A Full Life of Business, Politics, and Confronting Fiscal Crises -- he'll be at the Rockefeller Institute Wednesday talking about it with Susan Arbetter. Wednesday 1 pm - free (reservation required)

Akhil Sharma
Tuesday: Author Akhil Sharma will be at UAlbany as part of the NYS Writers Institute visiting writers series. Sharma -- described a decade ago as "a supernova in the galaxy of young, talented Indian writers" by Publisher's Weekly -- will be reading from and talking about his new novel, Family Life (NYT review). Tuesday 8 pm, uptown campus, campus center - free

Pirates
Tuesday: Saint Rose historian Bridgett Williams-Searle will be talking about pirates. Specifically: "Pirates as Fathers and Husbands: The Domestic World of the Pirate Kings of Madagascar and the Argument for Imperial Subjecthood, 1698-1722." Tuesday 6 pm, Lally School of Education - free

Politics
Wednesday: New York Times reporter Nick Confessore will be at Skidmore for a talk. Confessore covers politics for NYT, specifically campaign finance issues. Wednesday 5 pm, Palamountain Hall - free

Social media and documentary
Wednesday: Bard College professor Thomas Keenan will be at EMPAC for a talk about "new forms of documentary in relation to the rise of social media." Wednesday 7 pm - free

Classes

Canning
Tuesday: Christina Davis will be at the Arts Center of the Capital Region leading her popular waterbath canning class. Tuesday 6:30 pm - $65

Knife skills
Knife skills classes are popular and there are two of them this week: at Different Drummer's Kitchen on Thursday (6 pm - $55), and at Gio Culinary Studio on Friday (6:15 pm - $65).

Meatballs
Friday: Deanna Fox will be at Different Drummer's Kitchen heading up a class called "Meatballs Around the World." Friday 6 pm - $65

DIY household cleaners
Saturday: Michelle Boyle of Green Genies will be at Honest Weight for a class about DIY household cleaning agents. "[Y]ou'll make our own plant-based multipurpose cleaner to take home, along with recipes for other simple, safe cleaners for everyday use." Saturday 11 am - free (registration required)

Move Music Festival

Friday-Sunday: The Move Music Festival returns with events through the weekend. There's a kickoff show Friday night at Red Square. And then a bunch of acts playing at venues around Albany on Saturday. And then a handful of performers on Sunday. Friday $10 / Saturday $15

Music

Tuesday: WGNA Secret Star Acoustic Jam at Proctors
"[A]n intimate performance with three Superstars; who are ONLY revealed once they take center stage." It happened last week, too. 7 pm - $25

Wednesday: I See Stars at Upstate Concert Hall
Electronicore. With: Like Moths To Flames, Ghost Town, Razihel, Miss Fortune, Like Lions. 6:30 pm - $15 ahead / $18 day of

Thursday: David Nail at Upstate Concert Hall
Chart-topping country musician. With: Sam Hunt. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $20 day of

Friday: Markus Schulz at Upstate Concert Hall
Trance music DJ. With: Khomha. 9 pm - $20

Friday: Omar Sosa at Helsinki Hudson
Latin jazz pianist. 9 pm - $25 ahead / $30 day of

Friday: Martin Sexton at The Egg
Singer/songwriter. With: The Brothers McCann. 8 pm - $34.50

Friday: John McCutcheon at Proctors
Hammer dulcimer master. An 8th Step show. 7:30 pm - $26

Friday: Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas at Old Songs
"Long regarded as Scotland's premier fiddle ambassador" + "sizzlingly-talented young California cellist." 8 pm - $25 / $5 kids 12 and under

Friday: Driftwood at Caffe Lena
Americana. 8 pm - $16

Saturday: Rodrigo y Gabriela at The Egg
Acoustic guitar metal? Hard to describe, easy to enjoy. With: Bobby Long. 8 pm - $44.50 and up

Saturday: ASO Cirque De La Symphonie at The Palace
Symphony + circus performers. 7:30 pm - $20 and up

Saturday: Down on the Corner at The Low Beat and Pauly's
The Low Beat and Pauly's team up for a one-ticket, two-venue lineup of 7 bands. 7 pm - $7

To do list

1. Garden planning/preparing/working.

2. Thinking about taking your mom out to eat on Mother's Day? Now's a good time to get a reservation. Don't wait.

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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!

Proctors, Honest Weight, The Palace, Albany Law, and the Arts Center advertise on AOA. And AOA is a media sponsor of the Knick Film Fest.

photo: Peter Neill