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 (expected), to Thanksgiving, to Joe Biden, to words, to turkey trotting, to museums, to music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Maybe some rain (or snow), windy. Upper 30s.

Tuesday: Sunny and low 50s.

Wednesday: Some sun, mid 40s.

Thursday: Sun, turkey probably, chance of cranberry sauce. 40.

Friday: Sun, low 40s.

As you'd expect.

Thanksgiving

It's Thursday, as you know. Though we now regard Thanksgiving as one of the major American holidays, it wasn't an official annual holiday until 1863 when it was made so by Abraham Lincoln (with a proclamation written by New York's William Seward). And the holiday wasn't officially fixed to the fourth Thursday of November by Congress until 1942.

By the way: New York was the first state to adopt an annual Thanksgiving day, beginning in 1817.

Joe Biden

Monday: Joe Biden will be at Proctors for an on-stage conversation. Blurbage:

Vice President Joe Biden will appear in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart on the Schenectady stop of his American Promise Tour. Join Vice President Biden and Capehart for a night of conversation that will go beyond the 24-hour news cycle and 140-character arguments to connect friends and neighbors around the topics that matter most. Vice President Biden will reveal the big political moments of his career, the life-altering choices he made, and the key traits that have helped him persevere through challenges. He will share how the loss of his son Beau tested his resolve, and how he is finding new purpose in a time of uncertainty.

Each ticket includes a copy of his memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. Monday 7:30 pm -- $75 and up

Words

Front Parlor
Monday: The Front Parlor storytelling series is back at the Olde English in Albany. This month's theme: "Telling Tales - Stories about Stories." Monday 7:30 pm

Nitty Gritty
Tuesday: The Nitty Gritty poetry slam series is back at The Low Beat. Tuesday 7 pm

Performances on film

The Last Waltz
Monday: The Palace's film series is showing the The Band's The Last Waltz. 7 pm -- $5

Bolshoi Ballet
Tuesday: Proctors is showing a Bolshoi Ballet performance of Taming of the Shrew in the GE Theater. Tuesday 2 pm and 6:30 pm -- $15

Turkey trotting

Troy Turkey Trot
Thursday: The annual Troy Turkey Trot is Thanksgiving morning. Roughly 7,500 people will be running/walking/trotting through downtown Troy. The event includes a 5k, 10k, walk, and kids' mile. Online registration closes Monday at midnight. Last chance registration is Wednesday in-person at the packet pickup. There's no-day off registration for the 5k, 10k, or kids' mile.

Saratoga
Thursday: The annual Chris Dailey Turkey Trot 5k is in downtown Saratoga Springs. Last year more than 3,100 people participated. Online registration closes this Tuesday at noon. Last chance registration is Wednesday from 4-8 pm during packet pick-up. There is no day-of registration.

Museums

Got people in town and need to get them out of the house? You might hit up a museum:

+ The State Museum recently opened Votes for Women, a big exhibit about the the women's suffrage movement. And the first part of its new Erie Canal exhibit also recently opened. And A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War is still on display.

+ A bunch of pieces from the Albany Institute's large collection of Victorian fashion are on display. And almost its entire collection of Hudson River School paintings are on display in a newly refreshed gallery. Museum admission is free Friday-Sunday this week as part of the Home for the Holidays program.

+ MASS MoCA open a huge new addition of gallery space this year.

+ The Clark has a good permanent collection, and The Impressionist Line: From Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec is currently on display.

+ The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has an exhibit of folk art. And the new Feibes & Schmitt Gallery, dedicated to modern and contemporary art, opened this year.

+ The Norman Rockwell Museum is just over the Massachusetts border in Stockbridge.

+ The Arkell is an easy drive out west to Canajoharie. It currently works by Cassatt, Homer, O'Keeffe, Grandma Moses, Whistler on display.

+ Baseball fans could probably spend most of the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Music

Wednesday: Hamell on Trial at The Low Beat
As per tradition. 7 pm

Wednesday: Deke Dickerson at The Hangar
Rockabilly. 8 pm -- $10

Friday: Easton Corbin at Upstate Concert Hall
Country. With: Jillian Cardarelli. 8 pm -- $30 ahead / $33 day of

Friday: Eastbound Jesus & Floodwood at Cohoes Music Hall
Both playing their own sets, and then a set together. 8 pm -- $22 and up

Friday: Formula 5 at The Hollow
Jam. With: Jauntee. 8 pm -- $12

Saturday: Zoso - The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience
As it says on the label. 8 pm -- $20 ahead / $25 day of

Saturday: Tarbox Ramblers at Helsinki Hudson
"Where Appalachian music and backwoods blues meet..." 9 pm -- $15 ahead / $18 day of

Sunday: Moriah Formica at Lucky Strike
Her Friday show there is sold out. 7 pm -- $8 ahead / $10 at door

Sunday: Seth Glier at Caffe Lena
Folk singer/songwriter. 7 pm -- $18

To do list

1. If you're cooking a frozen turkey, start defrosting it in the fridge. Do not wait.

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These are a just a few things for this week, not a comprehensive list. Look for out "Stuff to do this weekend" list for the upcoming weekend on Friday.

Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

The Albany Institute advertises on AOA.

photo: David Lienemann