All Over Albany

A bathroom full of toiletries for $26. Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the Dollar Tree.

2009-07-15T15:30:00Z

]]> All for a dollar.

]]> Kim Wingfield OK, so it's a rough economy and most of us are trying to find ways to cut back on anything possible.

Necessary? Sure. Sucktastic? It doesn't have to be.

Toiletries are a good place to start. It's amazing how quickly those little items can add up and break your budget. If you're like me, and have a particular kind of product that you don't want to sacrifice (i.e. pricey makeup, special haircare products), it's a lot easier to find space in your budget for that occasional splurge when you're saving a bunch on the rest of your toiletries.

I've found a really painless way to slash the costs on these little necessary expenditures: dollar stores.

No, really.

You can get nearly all the toiletries you need in a dollar store for $26.

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Bobble, bobble, bobble, bobble, bobble

2009-07-15T14:28:43Z

]]> Jerry Jennings, Brian Stratton, Harry Tutunjian, David Paterson, Henry Hudson

]]> We have to admit to turning a bit green with envy when we saw Kim Mazor's lineup of Capital Region/New York State bobbleheads.

Kim's posted a bigger version on Twitpic.

Game on in state Senate, documents indicate district officials may have known about Raucci, police say man used child as shield, popular Phish camp closed

2009-07-15T13:51:37Z

The state Senate is back in session today, though it seems no one really knows what's going to happen. The session could take up NYC-related legislation -- or it could focus on reforming pork distribution. One possible complication: Democrats will only have a 31-30 majority because one of their members is on his honeymoon. [AP/Troy Record] [TU] [NYP]

David Paterson apparently wasn't a fan of the Democratic leadership signing Happy Birthday at their post-game press conference last week. Maybe he's just annoyed that he had to take time out from fund raising because of the Senate mess. [Daily Politics] [NYT]

Longtime Capital Region car dealer Ken Gowey says he's running for governor. His platform includes big tax cuts and belief that "man-made global warming" is a "boondoggle." [TU]

Documents filed as part of a lawsuit against the Schenectady School District indicate that district officials may have known about Steven Raucci's alleged acts of harassment as early as 2005. The documents include handwritten notes from the district's HR director that originally appeared as part of a workers compensation claim against the district. That claim alleged that an employee who worked under Raucci suffered emotional harm because of harassment. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

A state Supreme Court judge has struck down Albany County's sex offender residency law because it's superceded by state law. A similar law in Rensselaer County was tossed recently for the same reason. [TU]

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HSM in the park

2009-07-14T20:34:35Z

The Park Playhouse (in Albany's Washington Park) opens its season tonight (the web site plays music that won't stop). This year's show: High School Musical. Tickets up front are $12. The rest are free (first come, first serve).

While the muggles sleep...

2009-07-14T19:10:50Z

Local Harry Potter fans will be at the movies tonight.

As of this afternoon, 13 screenings of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had sold out at local theaters, according to Fandango. Everything was bought up at Colonie Center and there was one showing still open at Crossgates.

There were still open midnight screenings at The Spectrum (you can now buy online), the AMC Loews Rotterdam, and the Bow Tie Movieland in Schenectady (two screenings).

[via @CBS6]

Ask AOA: Parking in Center Square

2009-07-14T17:40:25Z

]]> A necessary Center Square parking accessory?

]]> Tweeted @daveyrich yesterday: "@alloveralbany I just rented an apartment in center square. How bad is parking, really? Am I gonna need to sell my truck and get a car?"

We re-tweeted and a handful of people responded. Their thoughts -- and maybe yours -- after the jump.

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Composted nows

2009-07-14T16:30:22Z

Naomi interviewed AOA local Etsy fave/pirate researcher Jess Lyons about her use of recycled fabrics.

Eclectic Method

2009-07-14T15:30:00Z

]]> Eclectic Method and its reproductions

]]> Here's something coming up later this week that definitely looks a little different -- and could be kind of awesome.

Video re-mixers Eclectic Method will performing (playing? mixing?) this Saturday at Red Square in Albany. Their work has appeared on the Colbert Report earlier this year after they re-mixed an interview between Stephen Colbert and Larry Lessig.

From a recent Wired feature about the group:

Eclectic Method's kinetic live shows splice music, film, TV and videogames into a body-rocking audiovisual concoction that gets clubbers hopping and synapses popping.

"We are constantly in the process of remixing media and researching new forms of narrative that multiscreen stimulus brings," said the trio's Jonny Wilson in an e-mail to Wired.com. "We also rock a sick party with clips you saw on TV just yesterday, mashed up with a million memories from the collective media history we all share."

After Barack Obama's victory speech on election day, the trio had some fun with his line about the new puppy for his daughters. They've also re-mixed 30 Rock and Tarantino clips.

The show starts at 9 pm Saturday. Tickets are $9. Disposable Rocket Band and DJ Mr. Chips are also on the slate.

photo: Jeremy Boxer

Great deals on summer essentials

2009-07-14T14:00:00Z

]]> It's pool time.

]]> Kim Wingfield Yes, we got royally cheated out of the first third of summer here in the Capital District.

However, it's now mid July, it's getting sunnier and warmer and it looks like it's going to stay this way for a while.

So if you got disgusted and threw out your summer gear last month because either a.) you couldn't fit it on the ark you were building, or b.) it got moldy, here's where you can pick up all your summer essentials for under $50.

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Not much has changed in state Senate, Gillibrand cut off at Sotomayor hearing, judge admonished for not getting work done, pair accused of using kid to aid burglaries

2009-07-14T13:34:45Z

Now that the state Senate leadership mess has been resolved, the chamber can move on to the really important stuff: staffing budgets. Oh, and Pedro Espada says was made majority leader because senators "trust" that "I can lead that house." [AP/Troy Record] [CapNews9]

Already bolstered by the state Senate's "extraordinary" sessions, downtown Albany restaurants are pulling for a special session. [CapNews9] [TU]

Chuck Schumer (video) and Kirsten Gillibrand (video) introduced Sonia Sotomayor at her Supreme Court nomination hearing yesterday. KG went on so long that she had to be cut off by Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (the first gavel comes at 6:25 in her video). Gillibrand does have a reputation for being loquacious. [SchumerTube] [GillibrandTube] [TU] [NYT]

Joe Bruno has already spent more than $450k on lawyers this year as part of his defense against federal corruption charges. [Daily Politics]

CSEA members showed up at last night's Albany County Legislature meeting to protest the planned five-day furloughs of county workers. The union says workers found out about the furlough via the media. Albany County exec Mike Breslin says the county is facing a $20 million budget gap. [Fox23] [CBS6]

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No playing flavor favorites

2009-07-13T21:00:00Z

There are some interesting bits in this Gazette profile of Stewart's Shops president Gary Dake. Among them: his favorite ice cream flavor was discontinued because it didn't sell well enough.

To the suburbs

2009-07-13T19:44:40Z

]]> Where did they go?

]]> The Census Bureau recently released its breakdown of population estimates for 2008. And while it's interesting to see the bureau's best guess about how many people are living in a place right now (well, recently), we figured it'd be more interesting too look at the longer trends.

So we looked up the population stats over the last two decades for a bunch of Capital Region cities and towns.

To the data!

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Left at the altar

2009-07-13T18:12:42Z

It sounds like same-sex marriage bill has completely stalled in the state Senate. [NY Mag]

The Burden Ironworks Museum

2009-07-13T17:00:00Z

]]> The Burden Ironworks Museum

]]> Jessica Pasko Today they're calling it "the new Brooklyn" (OK, some people are calling it the new Brooklyn) but industrial historian Tom Carroll is more likely to refer to Troy as the 19th Century Silicon Valley.

Before The Collar City was known for its collars, it was known for producing horseshoes, railroad ties and other iron products -- including a cast for the Centennial Liberty Bell and parts of the USS Monitor.

Carroll has collected that history at Troy's Burden Ironworks Museum -- and he can tell you everything you want to know about they city's industrial history... and then some.

Wait, don't let that scare you off. Some of it is pretty interesting stuff.

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All what?

2009-07-13T16:04:52Z

Albany was recently given an "All-America City" award -- which prompts Paul Bray to wonder in a TU op/whether the selection committee was actually looking at Albany.