All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Branford Marsalis plays Proctors tonight with pianist Joey Calderazzo and quartet.

Maybe you're prepping for a Super Bowl party this weekend, but if you're looking for something to do before the game, you have a long list of options.

After the jump, a few things going on this weekend that we thought you might enjoy. Got other plans? Share, please.

And whatever you're up to, have a great weekend.

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Parsons Corporate Trivia Challenge

Here's a chance to get the office nerds intellectuals together to have some fun and help out a good cause.

Parsons Child and Family Center is hosting its first Corporate Trivia Challenge on March 1st at Jillian's. You can register your office team of up to five people until February 8th. It's $15 dollars for an individual or $60 for a team.

Here's how it works:

+Teams compete in 20 rounds of questions, administered by Kevin Baker of Trivia Nights Live.

+Questions range in difficulty, and also in point value. Teams receive positive points for every correct answer, but lose points for each incorrect answer. For the final question teams bid, up to their maximum point total, based on the final category (before hearing the question)

+The team with the most points at the end of 20 questions is the winner

Now, look around the office and choose your experts wisely.

(Thanks, Chuck!)

Old Songs music classes

Looking for accordion lessons? Hammer dulcimer? Penny whistle? This is the place.

Here's something we thought looked kind of fun.

The people who host the Old Songs Music Festival and concerts series are about to begin another semester of music classes in old school instruments.

Old Songs is dedicated to preserving traditional folk music, and as part of their mission they'll teach you how to play it on everything from the accordion (yep, accordion lessons) and the penny whistle, to the ukulele and mountain dulcimer. A lot of the classes are open to beginners who may not even read music.

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Mountain Jam 2012

The initial lineup for the annual Mountain Jam music festival at Hunter Mountain in the Catskills is out.

Among the top-billed acts this year: Steve Winwood, Gov't Mule, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Roots, Ben Folds Five.

This year's festival is May 31-June 3. Tickets start at $150 -- and presumably will get more expensive as they're sold (the next price levels are "TBD"), though there were deals last year.

Earlier on AOA: No Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA this year -- but there will be Wilco

Passion Pit at Northern Lights

Electrpop band Passion Pit is scheduled to play a show at Northern Lights April 23. Tickets go on sale this Friday -- they're $25.

You've heard Passion Pit even if you've never heard of Passion Pit. For example: "Little Secrets". They're filed in the same bin as MGMT. And for whatever reason, they seem to get remixed and mashed up a lot. (What? A Passion Pit/MGMT mashup? Now the electropop bands are feeding on each other! Madness! Someone turn off the lights at American Apparel!)

Earlier on AOA:
+ The Avett Brothers at the Palace
+ Ingrid Michaelson at The Egg
+ Bruce Springsteen playing the TU Center
+ Some shows that are coming up, winter 2012

photo: Justin Borucki

The week ahead

Sean Rowe has a show lined up this week.

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from the weather (still weird), to Ryan Gosling, to cosmology, to documentary, to dance in the air, to Branford Marsalis, to Sean Rowe, to roller derby...

(there's more)

The Avett Brothers at the Palace

Folk rock band The Avett Brothers are scheduled to play The Palace April 22. Tickets go on sale February 3. They are $38 and $43.

The band is reportedly almost finished with a new album, produced by Rick Rubin. You might have seen them play on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recently. [Rolling Stone]

Also: Daughtry, the man and the band, are scheduled to play the Palace April 29.

Earlier on AOA: Some shows that are coming up, winter 2012

photo via The Avett Brothers Facebook

Stuff to do this weekend

Diego Garcia is at The Linda.

The eerily warm winter continues. Things should dry up a bit by Saturday and we're expecting a fair amount of sunshine as well, so you may want to get out and make a little vitamin D.

If you haven't made your plans for the weekend yet, we've got a few suggestions for you after the jump. Got something planned that we haven't mentioned? Share, please.

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

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Ingrid Michaelson at The Egg

Singer/songwriter/glasses wearer Ingrid Michaelson will be playing a show at The Egg May 14 (it probably won't be chilly by then, so you won't need her sweater). Tickets go on sale this Friday (January 27) -- they're $25.

Michaelson's album Human Again is currently the #1 album on iTunes.

photo via Ingrid Michaelson's website

The Snow Train to North Creek

The snow train -- Saratoga to North Creek and back again.

It was still dark enough to see stars overhead when I came to the Saratoga Springs train station, bundled up against single-digit temperatures. By the time the sun rose over hills and treetops I was riding toward the Adirondacks on a trip that until this year, no one had taken since 1942. The Gore Mountain Snow Train was bound for North Creek and I had a panoramic view of the snow-covered landscape rolling by.

After the jump, a little bit of my trip, complete with photos.

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Exit Dome 5 is this Saturday

Reminder: the annual WEXT benefit concert is this Saturday at the WEXT/WMHT studios (that is, the Exit Dome). As usual, there's a good local lineup slated:

• Sgt Dunbar & the Hobo Banned
• MaryLeigh & the Fauves
• The City Never Sleeps
• Mother Judge
• Rosary Beard
• M.R. Poulopoulos, playing between sets

The music starts at 7:30 pm. Two tickets are a $50 pledge to WEXT.

WEXT is our favorite local radio station (as you know). And this is a fun way to support Chris, Dave and the rest of the people there -- they actually care about local music. And they help make the Capital Region a more interesting place.

Bruce Springsteen playing the TU Center

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are scheduled to play the TU Center April 16.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday (January 28) at noon. They start at $41.

The show will be part of a tour through the US and Europe for his new album, Wrecking Ball, which is scheduled for a March release.

By the way: The Boss reportedly toured Skidmore on a college visit with his son last fall. [Skidmore Unofficial]

Earlier on AOA: Some shows that are coming up, winter 2012


photo via Bruce Springsteen Facebook

A whole season of screenings at EMPAC

A crop from the famous Saul Bass-designed poster for Vertigo.

Drawing's closed! The winner's been notified! Thanks for entering!

The spring season at EMPAC starts up this week with a screening of Vertigo on Thursday. Counting that Hitchcock classic, this season's slate includes seven different screenings of films and video. And we're giving away a pair of tickets to all of them. Yep, all seven.

To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

What's your favorite film character?

We'll draw one winner at random. That person will get a pair of tickets to see the whole slate of screenings.

Here are the included films:

+ Vertigo - Thursday, January 26
+ onedotzero: poemetrics - Thursday, February 16
+ Last Year at Marienbad - Thursday, February 23
+ onedotzero: wow + flutter 11 - Thursday, March 1 (7 pm)
+ onedotzero: wavelength 11 - Thursday, March 1 (8:30 pm)
+ Dead Man - Thursday, April 19
+ Before Sunrise - Thursday May 3

Important: All comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Tuesday (January 24, 2012) to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly -- seriously, if you win, we want to give you the tickets) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 10 am on Wednesday (January 25) and must respond by 6 pm that day.

A sampling of cooking classes

Maybe because of the weather -- or because we just feel hungry -- this seems like a good time of year to take a cooking class.

So we scanned through a handful of local classes and picked a few that look interesting to us. If there's one you're looking forward to, we'd love to hear about it.

(there's more)

The week ahead

Thurston Moore will be at Helsinki Hudson.

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from the weather (like March), to the year of the dragon, to the Three Stooges, to birthdays, to something big and green, to the global shipping system, to Vertigo, to all sorts of music...

(there's more)

Stuff to do this weekend

A still from Her Telling Heart, a modern twist on The Tell Tale Heart, this weekend at Proctors.

Winter is going to make somewhat of an effort this weekend, so Saturday might just end up being a good day to catch up on the DVR. That said, If you're looking to get out and do something, you've got a few good options.

After the jump, a round-up of stuff we thought you might want to try. Got other plans? Share please.

Keep warm, and have a great weekend!

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Indoor caving at A.I.R.

Climbing into the cave at A.I.R.

At first glance the Albany's Indoor Rockgym might remind you of a Chuck E. Cheese play place on steroids. There are ropes and rocks to climb, a ceiling climbing challenge and a 60 foot zip line. But underneath it all is an experience you can't get anywhere else in the country. A.I.R is home to the only indoor caving system in the U.S.

Multiple entrances open to dark winding trails that you can explore for a few minutes or a few hours.

And it's a pretty intense experience.

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Good places to play pool?

James emails:

I find some of the posts about great places to do various things incredibly helpful. For example: there was an article on the best places for trivia recently. I was hoping you could investigate places to play pool (billiards).

James didn't necessarily rack this one up as an Ask AOA question, but that seemed like the shortest path to finding him an answer.

So, got a suggestion? Please share!

Win tickets to Monster Jam

Because once in a while, you just want to crush something.

Update: The drawing is closed. The winner's been notified! Thanks for entering!

We spend most of our time trying to make things, but every once in a while -- as long as nobody gets hurt -- we get the urge to watch something get crushed. That's where monster trucks come in.

This weekend (Friday and Saturday nights) The Monster Jam comes to the T.U. center. Giant trucks will drive over cars and other stuff and crunch them. If that's not enough, there's going to be a fire-breathing metal dinosaur. And we've got four tickets for the Friday show to give away. Come on -- you know you want to go. The winner will also get a program and a sweet set of noise canceling monster truck headphones.

To enter, answer the question below in the comment section of this post:

What would you like to crush?

Maybe it's, maybe it's your winter blues, maybe it's the weight loss plan, maybe it's the competition. Be creative. But please, be nice --no personal attacks. Of course, you'd never do that.

We'll pick one winner at random.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 10 am on Thursday (January 19, 2012) to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly -- seriously, if you win, we want to give you the tickets) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by noon on Thursday and must respond by 9 am Friday (January 20).

The week ahead

Will the Grave Digger grab a footful at the TU Center? We can only hope.

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from the weather (more or less January-like), to storytelling, to poetry, to veggie burgers, to monster trucks, to manliness...

(there's more)

Some shows that are coming up, winter 2012

Sean Rowe's back -- and he's playing a show in February.

There are people who like to go to concerts. You may be one of these people.

There are also people who just like to know that there are concerts. You might be one of those people if you're not the other kind of person.

Either way, you will be interested to know that these concerts will be happening in the Capital Region. And during the next few months.

Here are those concerts...

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Stuff to do this weekend

Sunshine, 20 degrees -- time for a little skating?

Another winter weekend with not much snow. Celebrate or lament accordingly.

After the jump, a few things you won't really need snow to do this weekend. Got other plans? Share the with the rest of the crowd.

And have a great weekend.

(there's more)

Guster at The Egg

Update: The Egg says there's been a change. The Guster show is still scheduled for March 28th, but Jeff Garlin will not be appearing with them.

Boston Alt Rock band Guster is known, in part, for its quirkiness and sense of humor. They'll be pairing with Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin for what's being billed as a rare acoustic concert on March 28th at The Egg. Wait, is this music or comedy? What would it sound like? Maybe something like this podcast series they teamed up for a while back.

Tickets for the show are $27.50. They go on sale on Friday at noon.

EMPAC spring 2012

EMPAC's schedule for spring 2012 is out. And, as we've come to expect, it's full of stuff that looks interesting, weird, challenging, or just... different. The works on this season's slate make use of dance, animation, "actual reality," Walden, Infinite Jest, and mosquitoes.

Here are a handful of dates that caught our eye.

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A good start for 2012

Get in shape, clean the house, capture the wookie...

Update: The Drawing is now closed. Thanks for entering.

So we're nine days into the new year, and lots of people are working away at those resolutions. Or, you know -- not.

We've put together a little package to help someone out there get up off the mat and make some changes in the new year.

It includes help from a gym, a personal trainer, a house cleaning, personal organizing, delicious/healthy food and -- spa services. Here's the full list:

To help you get in shape:
+ Best Fitness: A 3 month Membership
+ Recenter Square: A $300 gift certificate for either personal training, pilates reformer sessions or group classes.

To help you get organized:
+ Neat Chic Organizing: 3 hours with professional organizer Cathy Dryden
+ Ecomaids: One Initial Service Visit --(includes kitchen, living room, dining room, entrance, hallway and stairs - retail value of $129.50.)

To help you relax:
+ Spa Virgo: A one hour Swedish massage and 30 min mini facial.

To help you eat well:
+ Honest Weight Food Coop : $100 gift card

To help you stay healthy:
+ Active Family Chiropractic: $200 gift card

To help you laugh more:
+ A gift certificate for you and 5 friends to see The Mop and Bucket Improv Company Underground at Proctors.

So there you have it -- a whole bunch or services to help get you healthier, more organized and more relaxed and have more fun in 2012. You can enter to win by answering one of the following questions in the comments:

What are you resolving to change in the new year?

What would you like to see happen in the Capital Region this year?

Important: All comments must be submitted by noon on Wednesday (January 11th 2012) to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly -- seriously, if you win, we want to give you your stuff) with your comment. The winners will be notified via email by 10 am on Thursday and must respond by 5 pm that day.

photo: Flickr user lucidtech