Items tagged 'cool' | All Over Albany

Items tagged with 'cool'

The Berkshire Bird Paradise

posted Sep 15, 2008 | map this

Hello!

If you have a couple of hours before the end of October, check out the Berkshire Bird Paradise. Yes, we said bird paradise. It's about 40 minutes from Albany, easy to find, and totally worth it.

Over 30 years Peter Dubacher has collected/rescued more than 100 species of birds from all over the world and made a home for them at his bird sanctuary in Petersburgh (near Grafton). Don't leave without talking to him (and make sure you ask him how he met his wife).

What will you hear and see?

(there's more)

2 comments

tags: cool, stuff to do

The art vending machine in Troy

posted Sep 3, 2008 | map this

The art vending machine.

By Jessica Pasko

Art? From a vending machine?

Yes, IPods aren't the only things that come in vending machines here in the Capital Region. A vending machine* in Troy has been refitted to dispense miniature pieces of art by emerging artists.

Yeah, we know It sounds a little weird, but it's actually kind of cool.

(there's more)

3 comments

tags: art, cool, Troy, weird

The Circle Museum

posted Aug 27, 2008 | map this

By Jessica Pasko

Updated October 17, 2008.

If you've always wanted to visit a sculpture museum that evokes an auto body shop (and really, who hasn't), here's your chance.

(there's more)

6 comments

tags: cool, weird

Sgt Dunbar's drive-by Albany-ing

posted Aug 20, 2008

Check it out: AOA faves Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned are currently on tour through Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina, so they stopped by the offices of famed indie label Merge Records in Durham, NC to play an impromptu show. It sounds like the Merge folks were just sitting there when they started hearing music and looked out the window.

We like how Matthew Loiacono described it: a drive-by Albany-ing.

UPDATE: The Hobo Banned reports that the South is different but awesome!

Earlier on AOA: Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned live

(Thanks, Matthew!)

photo: Merge Blog

2 comments

tags: cool, music, people

What your neighbors are reading

posted Aug 15, 2008

What's the most widely circulated book in the Albany Public Library system? A 10 year old coming of age novel by hip hop artist and author Sistah Souljah. Librarians at APL tell us the The Coldest Winter Ever, a novel about a young girl growing up in Brooklyn, is the most requested fiction book in the system. And apparently it's been that popular for a couple of years.

What other books are your neighbors checking out of the APL?

(there's more)

1 comment

tags: Albany, cool, stuff to do

The little yellow school bus

posted Aug 13, 2008

Admirers slowed traffic Wednesday along Lower Hudson in Green Island.

Check out this vintage school bus we spotted this week in Green Island. It's a fully-restored 1941 Brockway bus, seats eight (plus the driver), and is probably the only one of its kind left.

You know there's a story behind this (pictures, too).

(there's more)

2 comments

tags: cool, history, people

Arbor Hill's Tivoli Nature Preserve

posted Aug 4, 2008 | map this

Tivoli Lake in A-Town's Arbor Hill/West Hill neighborhood.

By Jessica Pasko

New York's largest urban nature preserve is Central Park in Manhattan. Where's the second largest? Albany's Arbor Hill. Yeah, we had no idea either.

(there's more)

5 comments

tags: Albany, cool, stuff to do

Google Transit makes a stop in the Capital Region

posted Aug 1, 2008

The downtown Albany to St. Peter's example.

As ThisQualityLife reported in a comment earlier this week, coverage of the Capital Region on Google Transit started today. And it is pretty cool.

You plug in where you're at, where you want to go, and Google figures out which bus to take, how far you'll have to walk, and how long the whole trip will probably last. (Check out this example for a trip from downtown Albany to St. Peter's.) Another interesting feature is the ability to plan/map a trip if you just want to walk. (See that same downtown to St. Peter's trip via foot.)

We can see this being really helpful for bus riders -- especially people who ride only occasionally (it's probably easier than getting a coach). But even if you never ride the bus, it's kind of fun to play around with these maps.

4 comments

tags: cool, transportation

The Carbeque

posted Jul 28, 2008

Hey look kids... it's "The Carbeque"

If you're passing through Saratoga on a weekend, here's something you might want to check out. Emil Onzo and his Carbeque have made the Saratoga Auto Museum their weekend "base of operations." The car-be-what? The Carbeque. It's just what it sounds like. A combination car/barbecue.

(there's more)

3 comments

tags: cool, Saratoga

Albany Rickshaw

posted Jul 28, 2008

Interviews

Yes, that's a rickshaw at the corner of State and Lark.

Check out what we found while we were having dinner on Lark Street the other night! (Unfortunately all we had handy was the camera phone, but you get the idea.) Yep, there's a new way to travel in Albany. A very, very old new way to travel.

Right now Albany Rickshaw is a one man company, and that one man is in pretty good shape. Loren Grugan is an Albany police officer, but in his off-hours he'll pull you around the city in his new rickshaw. Loren doesn't stay still for very long, but he put the breaks on to talk with AOA.

(there's more)

4 comments

tags: Albany, cool, weird

The Round Lake Pipe Organ

posted Jul 22, 2008 | map this

By Jessica Pasko

The little village of Round Lake is home to one of the biggest pipe organs in the country. It's also one of the oldest pipe organs in the country.

Turns out the village once served as a Methodist meeting camp in the late 1800's. The organ lives in the Round Lake Auditorium, which at one time was used for church services. Today it's used for concerts, antique fairs, plays and other village events.

Organ experts will tell you this impressive instrument with it's massive array of sounds is a Ferris three-manual tracker, but really, do you know any organ experts? We don't either. So we checked into a few interesting details ourselves . Here's what we learned.

(there's more)

3 comments

tags: cool, history, music

Take a left on Western, head for heaven

posted May 19, 2008

Up, up and away.

We love this picture by Flickr user iessi (we think her actual name is Jessica). It's like Western Ave leads off into the sky.

Be sure to check the Albany photo set by Jessica -- we particularly liked this funny picture of Nipper.

photo: Flickr user iessi, used under a CC license

1 comment

tags: Albany, cool

The Scoop

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All Over Albany

Items tagged with 'cool'

The Berkshire Bird Paradise

The art vending machine in Troy

The Circle Museum

Sgt Dunbar's drive-by Albany-ing

What your neighbors are reading

The little yellow school bus

Arbor Hill's Tivoli Nature Preserve

Google Transit makes a stop in the Capital Region

The Carbeque

Albany Rickshaw

The Round Lake Pipe Organ

Take a left on Western, head for heaven

The Scoop

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