All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Groundhog, shmoundhog. There are seven more weeks of winter ahead of us, counting this one.

You could hang out and watch Bill Murray movies over and over again, but if you want to break the Netflix cycle, we've made a list for you filled with stuff going on this weekend.

Doing something you don't see on our list? Tell us about it in the comment section. We'd love to hear.

And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend!

1st Friday
Friday: It's 1st Friday in Albany. Participating shops and galleries are open late with music, art and other surprises. A few things going on:
+ The Albany Institute of History and Art will be open from 5-8 pm, free of charge. The Well-Dressed in Victorian Albany exhibit has been extended.
+ The Albany County Historical Association hosts a food photography exhibit called "Appetite for History: Albany County's Culinary Culture from the 1700s to Today."
+ The Lustre Kings headline the 1st Friday swing dance at the 25 South Allen. 8-11 pm -- $15 / $10 for students and seniors
+ The Opalka Gallery hosts Practice What You Teach, an exhibition by the faculty at the Sage College Art + Design.
+ The Massry Gallery at The College of Saint Rose is open with its Turbulent Terrain show by Lisa Corinne Davis. "Occupying a point somewhere between abstraction and figuration, cartooning and cartography, Lisa Corinne Davis's paintings explore themes of racial, social and psychological identity."

Lake George Winter Carnival
Saturday-Sunday: The annual Lake George Winter Carnival kicks off this weekend. The festival runs every weekend in February with activities such as human foosball tournaments, bonfires, polar plunges, helicopter rides, carriage rides and kids activities on and around the lake. This weekend features outhouse races on the lake, youth hockey scrimmages, a chili cook-off, s'mores on the beach and more. Saturday and Sunday starting at noon -- free admission

Chowderfest
Saturday: Chowderfest returns to downtown Saratoga Springs. Sample chowders from around the region at locations around downtown and vote for your favorites. Saturday 11 am-4 pm -- $1 per sample

Ballston Spa Chocolate Festival/1st Friday
Friday: The annual Ballston Spa Chocolate Festival is part of the village's 1st Friday celebration. Area restaurants and bakeries will sample chocolate delicacies at locations around the village. Vote for your favorites. Friday 6-9 pm -- $1 per sample

Stage

Paris Time
Friday-Sunday: The Rep recently opened its world premiere production of Paris Time:

A gripping and sophisticated drama that looks behind the headlines at anti-semitism in today's France. When Deborah, the wife of a successful American executive based in Paris, becomes an activist defending a young Jewish Frenchwoman, Charles gets caught in the corporate hot seat. Company policy demands him to withdraw from the political limelight or lose his career, but if he won't get involved, he may lose his marriage.

The production runs through February 18. Friday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

Hedda Gabler
Friday-Sunday: Albany Civic Theater presents Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm, Sunday 3 pm -- $18 / $10 students with ID

The Bodyguard
Friday-Sunday: A touring production of the stage version of The Bodyguard is at Proctors. Deborah Cox plays the lead (Whitney Houston) role. Friday-Sunday various times -- $20 and up

An Inspector Calls
Friday-Sunday: Schenectady Civic Players presents An Inspector Calls, a play about the investigation into a young woman's suicide in 1945. It has elements that are timely today. Friday and Saturday 8 pm, Sunday 2:30 pm -- $20

Fit to Kill
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call Theater presents Fit to Kill, a thriller by Victor Cahn. Friday 8 pm, Saturday 2 pm and 8 pm, Sunday 3 pm -- $27.50

Comedy

NY Kings of Comedy
Saturday: The NY Kings of Comedy make a stop at The Egg this weekend. A night of stand-up with five comedians. Saturday 7 pm -- $42 and up ($5 extra day of)

Ray Harrington & Brian Beaudoin
Friday-Saturday: The Comedy Works in Saratoga host a double bill with Ray Harrington from Be a Man and Brian Beaudoin from First Night of Funny. Friday and Saturday various times and prices

Pablo Francisco
Friday-Sunday: Comedian/impressionist Pablo Francisco headlines at the Albany Funny Bone. Friday and Saturday various times and prices

Groundhog Day Spectacular
Friday: The Mop & Bucket Company celebrates six more weeks of winter with a Groundhog Day Spectacular improv show. Improvisors create songs, stories, and scenes based on audience suggestions. Friday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors

TheaterSports
Saturday: The Mop & Bucket Company continues its run of TheaterSports at the MopCo Improv Theater. Teams of improvisors compete by creating games, stories and songs based on audience suggestion. Saturday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors

Film

Lupe Under The Sun
Friday: The NYS Writers Institute film series returns with a screening of Lupe Under the Sun, a drama that cast real farmworkers rather than actors to tell the story of an aging Mexican migrant worker coming to terms with his past. The film will be shown with commentary by writer/director Rodrigo Reyes. Friday 7 pm, Page Hall on the UAlbany Downtown Campus -- free

Academy Award nominees
The nominees have been announced, and many of them are still in local theaters, so it's a great time to catch the ones you missed.

Proctors
Proctors is screening Barack Obama: The Final Year, and All The Queens Horses. Friday-Sunday various times -- $6

Hoops

Siena
Friday: The Siena men take on Manhattan at the Times Union Center. Friday 7 pm -- $15 and up

UAlbany
Saturday: UAlbany's men take on New Hampshire at the SEFCU Arena in this season's "Big Purple Growl" game. Saturday 7 pm -- $15 and up

Patroons
Sunday: The Albany Patroons face the Rochester Razorsharks at the Washington Ave Armory. Sunday 1 pm -- $10 and up

ESYO Playathon
Saturday: The Empire State Youth Orchestra's annual Playathon is back at Crossgates Mall. Over 500 ESYO youth musicians will play over the course of the day. Saturday 11 am-6:30 pm -- free

Music

Friday: Lissie at The Linda
Indie pop. 8 pm -- $12

Friday: Lera Lynn at Massry Center
"Americana roots with a mix of spacey, left-of-center rock and experimental pop-noire." 8 pm -- $25 / $10 students

Friday: Hartley's Encore at Parish Public House
Soul/funk/dance. With: Ryan Jordan. 9 pm

Saturday: Brantley Gilbert at TU Center
Country. With: Aaron Lewis, Josh Phillips. 7 pm -- $29.75 and up

Saturday: Get The Led Out at The Palace
Led Zeppelin tribute act. 8 pm -- $31.50 ahead / $33.50 day of

Saturday: The Figgs at Newberry Hall
Hometown show. 9 pm - $10 ahead / $15 day of

Sunday: Red Canna & Decho Ensemble
Chamber jazz + sax duo.

Classes/talks

History on Tap: History Repeats
Friday: The Albany Institute of History and Art hosts History on Tap: History Repeats, a Groundhog Day presentation about how history repeats itself, featuring little-known stories about the institute's collections. Enjoy a drink with the group at a local bar following the event. Friday 6 pm -- $12 (does not include drink)

Mexican food
Friday: Different Drummer's hosts a class in making Mexican food, including corn tortillas, Mexican-style street corn, red chile chicken tacos, and more. Friday 6 pm -- $69

Early African-American Schenectadians
Saturday: The Schenectady County Historical Society is hosting a history talk with author Marsha Mortimore. "Mortimore is an expert in Schenectady's black history, and will discuss the county's early African American heritage, including the 1844 Colored Convention, the beginnings of the African American Church in Schenectady, and notable early black Schenectadians." Saturday 11 am -- $5

Colonial Cocktails
Saturday: The Schenectady County Historical Society hosts Colonial Cocktails. Historian John Gearing will make and offer samples of a variety of libations from colonial times. Saturday 1 pm -- $25 (registration required)

Make a monster -- youth/adult e-textiles workshop
Sunday: The Tech Valley Center of Gravity hosts a workshop at which youth-adult pairs will learn to use e-textiles to create a plush monster with a glowing heart. Sunday 1 pm -- $55 per team (includes all materials and some light refreshments)

Winter Hiking & Snowshoeing with LL Bean
Saturday: An LL Bean Outdoor Discovery School expert leads a talk on how to dress, and essentials to pack, for outdoor winter adventures. Saturday 1:30 pm -- free

Bird Language
Sunday: A rep from Flying Deer Nature Center will be at Honest Weight Coop for a program on how to listen to and interpret the language of birds. Sunday 1:30 pm -- free

Valentine's cooking class for kids
Sunday: Different Drummer's Kitchen hosts a hands-on kids course in how to make Valentine treats. Sunday 1 pm -- $50

Outdoors

Candlelight Ski and Snowshoe
Friday: Weather permitting, there's a CANdlelight Ski and snowshoe at the Polaris Pavilion near the Peerless Pool in Saratoga Spa State Park. Families are invited to ski and snowshoe, along with a bonfire and warm drinks. Friday 6 pm -- admission is a minimum of two canned food items

Groggy Groundhogs
Saturday: The Albany Pine Bush Preserve has a talk and short hike about groundhogs. Saturday 11 am -- $3 per person / $5 per family (registration required)

Skating
Here's a big list of places around the Capital Region to ice skate -- including outdoor rinks such as the ESP, indoor rinks, and even a few frozen ponds.

Museums/galleries

University Art Museum
The University Art Museum at UAlbany has two new exhibits:
+ This Place is a photography exhibit that "explores the rifts and paradoxes of the highly contested spaces of Israel and the West Bank."
+ Hank Willis Thomas: Black Righteous Space is a "sound reactive video installation exploring issues of identity, race, and popular culture."

State Museum
The State Museum continues its Votes for Women, about the women's suffrage movement. And the first phase of its new Enterprising Waters: New York's Erie Canal exhibit is open.

Albany Institute
Well-Dressed, an exhibit of high fashion from the 19th century, continues at the Albany Institute of History and Art, along with an exhibit about the the anti-suffrage movement in Albany. Also almost its entire collection of Hudson River School works is on display.

Hyde Collection
The Hyde Collection recently opened Alphonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau. And the new Feibes & Schmitt Gallery is also now open.

MASS MoCA
There are a bunch of exhibits on display that make use of its huge gallery expansion.

The Clark
The Clark has a good permanent collection.

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

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

History of urban development in Schenectady
The Schenectady County Historical Society recently opened a new exhibit called Changing Downtown: The Rise, the Raze, and the Revitalization of Schenectady.

Farmers' markets
+ The Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is indoors at the atrium. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is indoors at the Lincoln Bathhouse Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is indoors at Proctors. Sunday 10 am-2 pm
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is inside the Lincoln Baths. Sunday 10 am-2 pm.

Troy Makers Market
Saturday: Local craft vendors will display and sell wares at the Troy Makers Market in conjunction with the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market. Saturday 9 am to noon

The Albany Institute, Honest Weight, the Empire State Youth Orchestra, and the Mop & Bucket Company advertise on AOA. And AOA is a sponsor of the ESP ice rink.