The 2012 Albany Tulip Festival Committee is now accepting applications for artist exhibits at the 64th annual festival which takes place  this year on May 12 & 13 in Washington Park.

Art submitted can fall under painting (watercolor, acrylic, pastel, oil, etc.), drawing, sculpture, prints, photography, etching, collage and mixed media. No craft, commercial or retail vendor applications will be accepted.

All exhibitors must be 18 years or older and the cost is $70 for two days  and a  $10 jury fee.

The application deadline is Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. You can request an application here.

The Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity will continue to fund Planned Parenthood, just days after its founder and CEO Nancy Brinker defended their decision to defund the program. The announcement was made Friday morning by its board of directors.

In a statement, the board apologized for “recent decisions.”

The charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, had originally said it would no longer participate in funding of Planned Parenthood. Brinker had said it was not politically motivated.

In the past 48 hours, several notables, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell had voiced their displeasure with the decision.

Park Playhouse, Albany’s free theater series that takes place in Washington Park, announced Wednesday that for it’s upcoming season that “Cabaret,” not the previously advertised “Legally Blonde,” will be produced for the company’s twenty-fourth season.

“Legally Blonde is a show that Park Playhouse may do someday,” said Owen M. Smith, the producing artistic director of Park Playhouse. Smith, who has been head of the venerable summer theater program for three years, expressed confidence in the change from the movie-turned-musical “Legally Blonde” to “Cabaret.”

“Our funding structure has changed and we’ve taken a look at the new budget structure. Legally Blonde is a lesser known title and a more expensive production and this is not the first time we’ve changed shows,” said Smith.

“(Cabaret) is a better fit for our budget and people have wanted to see Cabaret for years.”

Park Playhouse, which began in 1989 as part of a municipal arts program and has evolved into its own non-profit organization, is still in a revival phase since Smith took over in 2010. Under Smith’s tenure, Park Playhouse has produced critically-acclaimed productions of “Annie Get Your Gun” and “The Producers.”

“We all felt good about the switch,” Smith continued.

‘Cabaret,’ which was written by Kander and Ebb and first performed in 1966, is set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power. The show focuses on nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub and revolves around the 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw.

“I think Cabaret is a story that needs to be told and we will be doing it in a very different than what people have seen before.”

Mistakes, mistakes don’t turn the water back on.

According to a report first published by the Albany Business Review, the University at Albany is seeking new bids for contractors to rehabilitate the water tower and fountain on its uptown campus in response to a subcontractor of Latham-based Bunkoff General Contractors erred on an estimate for work of approximately $1.2 to $1.5 million.

The bid that the subcontractor was involved with kept the amount below the $15 million threshold when the subcontractor discovered the mistake.

The entire project, estimated around $15 million, is set to be complete by 2014.

The SUNY Construction Fund, who is managing the bids for the project, decided to re-open the request process in light of the mistake. The new bid is now due on February 14, with provisions to keep the project within line cost-wise and minimize distractions on the Edward Durell Stone-designed campus.

A small water fountain not located in the main area was separated out as an alternate bid, which means the university could decline to do that portion of the project depending on the cost.

Some of the criticism over the project stems from the university’s 2010 plan to cut a number of humanities programs while embarking on a robust list of construction projects that include building a new School of Business building, rehabbing dormitories, and renovating the Campus Center.

This past weekend Marian Gaborik was crowned the MVP of the All-Star game after he recorded a hat trick and an assist as he led Team Chara to the win. For an All-Star weekend that lacked the two most well known faces of hockey in Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, there was still plenty of excitement to go around.

The all-star fantasy draft format was back by popular demand and was even more fun than last year. It was funny to see players like Gaborik get picked to play against their teammates like Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was the assistant captain of Team Alfredsson. An interesting twist to the fantasy draft is that the last man picked by the team captains wins a brand new car. Getting picked last probably doesn’t seem so bad to San Jose’s Logan Couture, who decided to give the car to his brother.

The Boston Bruins’ 6-foot-9 captain, Zdeno Chara, highlighted the skills competition when he broke his own and the NHL’s previous record for hardest slap shot with a whopping 108.8mph shot. It’s his fifth consecutive win in the Hardest Shot Competition. I feel for any defenseman who puts his body on the line to block one of those slap shots. I’m sure for next year, Chara will be aiming to break the world record of 114.1mph that was set at this years KHL Skills Competition even though that record was set at a closer distance to the goal.

The NHL’s All-Star weekend is more watchable and exciting than people think. This year’s breakaway challenge reminded me more of the NBA’s iconic dunk contest than any of the years past.  Some of the highlights of the breakaway challenge were goalie Carey Price making a save facing his own net, Patrick Kane putting on the superman cape, then proceeding to smash the gag puck into about six pieces and Corey Perry pulling a mini-stick from under his jersey and scoring with it. It really is the hockey version of the dunk contest.

Now that the All-Star game is over with, it’s time to start thinking about the playoffs. With less than half the season left, the New York Rangers still sit atop of the Eastern Conference with 67 points, one point ahead of the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. The Rangers face a tough schedule ahead, playing seven potential playoff teams during the next 10 game stretch. Coach John Tortorella is still set on giving Lundqvist multiple scheduled days off to try and keep him fresh for the playoffs, so backup goaltender Martin Biron is going to need to play well when he starts.

If captain Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik can keep playing at a high level, the Rangers should be able to survive this gauntlet of tough games and stay at the top of the eastern conference. The Rangers are fast, talented, young and have one of the best goalies in the NHL. There always seems to be high expectations for the New York Rangers, but this year they look like they could meet those expectations.

The news cycle for the next few days is going to be dominated with stories saying something like “Mitt Romney regains momentum with Florida win!”  However, if you read between the lines and pay attention to the numbers, you’ll see Willard has done nothing more than stop Newt Gingrich.  Considering the former Speaker’s past record, this isn’t exactly a challenge.  Arguably, he has not regained any momentum.

Ever since Iowa, the campaigns have gone full tilt negative.  For the duration of the GOP primary, especially in Florida, the message of each GOP candidate has been something like “Trust me, you don’t want to vote for my opponent… and here’s why.”  Unfortunately for the GOP, all of the candidates, past and present, have a lot to contribute to the “here’s why” section.  Whether it’s Mr. Gingrich pretending to be the moral values candidate, Mr. Santorum with his, ahem, “pro-issue” legislative record, Mr. Paul who belongs in the Libertarian Party, and Mr. Romney who invented the flip flop, the potential GOP nominees have a plethora of baggage.

The negative ads are backfiring on the candidates too.  The caveat with negative advertising is that you hurt yourself a little bit as well as doing damage to your opponent.  Mr. Romney, whose approval ratings were pretty low to begin with, is taking a hit.

The weak field is not happening by chance.  The Obama campaign recognized and acknowledged early on that the economic conditions of the country were going to make for a tough re-election bid.  They have been taking an active role in the primary as demonstrated here, here, and my personal favorite here.  The Obama campaign got out in front of the GOP field in an attempt to define their opponents early on, a strategy seen in recent campaigns such as Senator Harry Reid’s successful re-election last year.  This is at least partially why stronger GOP candidates are staying out of the race, such as Gov. Mitch Daniels or Gov. Chris Christie.

I’ll leave you with this thought.  A new Public Policy Poll shows President Obama up 8 points on Mitt Romney in Ohio and up by 12 on Newt Gingrich.  Can someone remind me who the last Republican was who won a Presidential campaign without Ohio?  I certainly wasn’t alive yet.

One of New York’s most iconic rock clubs may be making a comeback, as the New York Post reports this morning that the legendary punk club is expecting to reopen in a new location.

The club, founded by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1973, had been the launchpad for a number of bands such as the Ramones and Blondie.

The establishment closed in 2006 and subsequently became a John Varvatos clothing store.

Kristal’s daughter Lisa recently sold the rights and memorabilia to a group of buyers. They plan to announce plans to reopen the club in a new location in the coming weeks.

Television producer Don Cornelius, who produced and hosted the television staple, “Soul Train,” is dead at 75 according to multiple reports of an apparent suicide from a gunshot wound.

Police tell celebrity website TMZ that Cornelius was found dead in his Los Angeles home early on Wednesday.

Cornelius created “Soul Train” and hosted the show in national syndication from 1971 to 1993. It was the first real venue on American television for soul music, and as the show’s writer and producer, as well as host, Cornelius played a vital role in bringing stars like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson to a wider audience.

Some have described the show as “a black American Bandstand,” though Cornelius was not a fan of that comparison.  As the host, he was known for the catchphrase with which he closed each episode: “I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!”

“Soul Train,” which ceased airing in 2006, also spun off the Soul Train Music Awards and the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.   Its most famous theme song, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB became a massive pop hit in 1974.

Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy, now a month into his first term as chief executive of the most populous county in the Capital Region, defended his choice for county attorney after a barrage of complaints from the progressive and LGBT communities.

In a statement first published by the Times Union this afternoon, McCoy said that Thomas Marcelle, a senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (an organization labeled to watch for by the Southern Poverty Law Center), was “overqualified for the job of county attorney.”

Marcelle will go before a vote of the full county legislature next week. According to a number of sources, at least 16 legislators out of the 39 will oppose Marcelle’s nomination.

“I have every belief that he will follow the law. During his meeting with the County’s Personnel Committee, he unequivocally stated that he would uphold New York’s new same-sex marriage law should it come before him as a matter of county business. With his commitment to this specific law publicly stated, I don’t believe that we should have a political litmus test for county employment,” said McCoy in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Empire State Pride Agenda called Marcelle’s appointment an “insult” and would bring “grave danger” to the LGBT community.

“My own personal commitment to equal rights is well documented publicly, as evidenced by my previous support for proposed civil rights and equal protection laws, and by the statement I made last June supporting the passage of marriage equality in New York State,” McCoy continued in the statement.

Before marriage equality was passed by New York in June, County Legislator Bryan Clenahan had proposed a pro-marriage equality declaration before the county legislature – a declaration in which McCoy never signed. McCoy at the time was county legislature chair.

Clenahan, along with fellow legislator Noelle Kinsch and others, made the opinion of Marcelle known as the RFK Democratic Club meeting last week.

The fight over Marcelle’s appointment reached a boiling point earlier this month when Libby Post published stoptommarcelle.com, a web site dedicated to opposing Marcelle’s appointment as county attorney. The county attorney is responsible for legal matters within county government and should not be confused with the duties and responsibilities of the district attorney, who is the county’s chief prosecutor.

“It is unfortunate those who oppose this appointment on personal and political grounds are doing so by seeking to frustrate the equal protection rights of an individual. Albany County is committed to providing and assuring equal opportunity is extended to all persons in employment matters without regard to their race, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, sex or disability,” McCoy concluded.

It remains seen whether McCoy will consider other potential nominees in the event that Marcelle’s vote fails.

Update (2/2/2012, 2:49 p.m.): Bill Ritchie, President of the Albany County Central Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), representing 30,000 union members and their families in Albany County, has announced the Federation’s opposition to the proposed appointment of Thomas Marcelle to the position of Albany County Attorney and is urging Albany County legislators to reject this candidacy. This position was adopted tonight by a vote of the delegates at the Federation’s monthly meeting.

“Tom Marcelle is by no means well-qualified for the County Attorney job,” said Ritchie.

“While his competence as a lawyer is not being debated, his lack of experience in matters pertaining to labor law and practice – collective bargaining, public employee contracts, arbitration and initiatives such as project labor agreements–is glaring.”

Apple has officially become the world’s top computer maker, according to research firm Canalys, beating longtime leader Hewlett-Packard.

Canalys included tablet PCs in their calculation, such as Apple’s iPad. The global PC market grew by 16 percent to a total of 120 million computers in the final quarter of 2011.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple sold 20.6 million units, compared to HP’s 15.3 million units in the last quarter. Lenovo placed third, selling 13.5 million. Dell and Acer rounded out the top five, with 11.9 million and 11.2 million sold respectively.

The calculation by Canalys could be used by other analyst firms such as Gartner to calculate the total amount of computers sold and used across the world. With more users switching from desktop/laptop-based platforms to a tablet, Apple could in fact be the mainstream maker it has long sought to become.

As the New Jersey Nets prepare to make their move to Brooklyn from New Jersey, using the slogan, “Jersey Strong, Brooklyn Ready,” another major league team is preparing to possibly make a move from “Strong” Island to the borough of Kings.

The New York Islanders announced they will play the first National Hockey League game at Barclays Center, the new multi-million arena in Downtown Brooklyn, on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. Ironically, they will play the New Jersey Devils, who moved from the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. to their own arena in Newark, the Prudential Center. The game will also mark the first ever hockey game played in Brooklyn.

“We’re extremely excited to play the first NHL game in the new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center,” Islanders General Manager Garth Snow said in a statement. “We already have some of the most passionate fans in the league supporting our young team, and we are looking forward to expanding our base into Brooklyn.”

Speculation arising over the Islanders relocation has been fierce since Long Island voters rejected a $400 million bond plan to finance a replacement to Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. With Barclays Center being able to handle an NHL-regulation ice rink, a move to Brooklyn may be easier for the Islanders than building a new arena or rehabbing the coliseum.

The arena will officially open days earlier, as Jay-Z will play a series of concerts.

“We feel Brooklyn is an untapped hockey market that offers the Islanders with an exciting opportunity to grow its fan base,” Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said. “Barclays Center will also afford current Islander fans with great accessibility, as the Long Island Rail Road and nine subway lines will come directly to the arena at the Atlantic Terminal transit hub.”

The on sale date has yet to be announced.

We, as a generally spiteful society, love to see the bad guy get what’s coming to him. And of course, if a gorgeous woman is doling out justice, heap it on! Who didn’t love Kill Bill and apparently someone out there actually liked Colombiana, but my problem with female vengeance stories or female actions stars in general is this: who could actually believe those women could hurt someone?

Now before any women out there get angry, I have to preface this with saying I love ass kicking women in really good action movies. I am simply saying these women tend to be waifish chicks that are in desperate need of a sandwich. I was once an immensely athletic gym rat and when I could (kind of) bench and definitely whoop some butt, I was no wilting flower. Gina Carano is, first of all, gorgeous. Second of all, she is an actual professional MMA fighter with a decent record. I actually went on YouTube and looked up her fights. Every man and woman should be terrified of fighting her.

This was her first big acting gig and a great one at that. Like I have said before, I am a big fan of action movies. This story is a classic one, but is told in a much more original way. Although it is mostly told in flashback: it is blunt, to the point, and gritty. Mallory Kane (Carano), a former Marine and now mercenary, works for a private company run by her former boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor). In the beginning of the movie, she makes it clear that now that she has left him, she will be leaving the company as well. With his best employee leaving and his company on shaky ground, Kenneth feels spurned to the point of treason and vicious revenge on his former lover.

I liked Ewan McGregor as a bad guy. He is one of my favorites for sure, but usually he is so likable and chivalrous. It was fun to see him as a sniveling and conniving jaded ex. He hires a man named Paul (Michael Fassbender) to kill Mallory under the guise of a friendly Mi6 agent. This had to be my favorite scene in the film. Fassbender and Carano go at each other like wild animals. The fight is brutal and believable. One of my favorite things this film did was not add that cheesy punch sound. They beat the living daylights out of each other in a swanky hotel room. Let’s just say Carano drop kicking him through a glass door was not the worst thing that happens to him.

It’s films like this that make me sad we don’t offer Oscars for fight choreography. Each of the actors, as well as their doubles, moved with grace and fluidity. All I wanted to do was kick box after leaving the theatre. And it isn’t all violence either. Some would say that an MMA fighter can’t act and I would agree for the most part. Carano is no Meryl Streep but the character called for a matter of fact and practical attitude which Carano delivered on fully. I didn’t even mind the usually boring and Ken doll like Channing Tatum. As for the rest of the cast, Michael Douglas was charming and sneaky as the government agent working Kenneth over for Mallory’s sake and Antonio Banderas is well… Antonio Banderas. Enough said. All joking aside though, this is a film that’s short enough to be suspenseful, but long enough to tell a good story. As for the end, let’s just say I hope to see Haywire II in theatres in the next year.

It was a snow-on/snow-off mix on Monday morning as Albany Parking Authority workers began installing the new parking meter machines along Washington Avenue in Albany, between the New York State Capitol and the State Education building.

The machines, installed as part of a larger effort to eliminate metered parking across the City of Albany, allow for credit cards to be used as well. Criticism over the machines stem from the very thing the meters had initially disavowed, which was that downtown workers would stay in prime parking spots near government or office buildings for the entire day, not allowing for visitors to park.

Meter parking still exists along Madison Avenue in Pine Hills and in various mini-sections in Albany.

The Cain Train officially boarded the Newt-mentum Express.

On Saturday, former GOP presidential candidate and business man Herman Cain officially endorsed Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. Cain’s endorsement wasn’t unexpected, as Gingrich and Cain had been friendly to each other before and during the campaign season.

Cain’s endorsement helps a Gingrich campaign that looks weary just before the Florida primary against Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Penn. Sen. Rick Santorum, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Earlier this month, I was on the uptown campus of my alma mater – the University at Albany – meeting with two friends of mine who still attend the university. Now, this was during what is known as “intersession” – that time between the end of finals in mid December and the return of students on campus in mid January, so the campus was fairly dead.

It was snowing and I decided to park on Dutch lot – I figured I would do this to save the $5 from not parking in one of the newer Visitor’s lots, since I was only going to be on campus briefly.

After meeting with my two friends, I offered to drive one of them back to Empire Commons. We walk back to Dutch lot and find that the car’s gone. Instead of panicking, I knew the culprit immediately.

Parking and Mass Transit Services.

I called their office and asked whether my vehicle had been, in fact, towed by their department. The woman over the phone, in a snide manner, confirmed. I then proceeded to walk over to their trailer of an office. When I entered, I was greeted in a lovely manner by one of their associates (note the deep sarcasm). Their story was that during my time as Director of Programming for the Student Association (in which we brought President Clinton, Barbara Walters, and others to campus), that my account had been tacked on tickets for vehicles registered in the name of the department, not the Student Association.

When pleading with them to instead charge these tickets to Student Association, the woman went on the offense, saying “Well, I don’t know you from anyone.” Not the kindest words, nor even words to be uttered to anyone who went to this campus – considering we pay your salary.

$400 later, I got my car out of Dott’s Garage (who were very nice). The reason why I’m telling you this story is not to simply rant (which I wanted to anyway), but to plead with Albany County and other municipalities to strengthen the anti-towing laws currently in effect. According to the Times Union, a number of landlords and towing companies want to repeal the five-year old “predatory towing” law.

It all comes down to the money. UAlbany’s Parking and Mass Transit Services, in an e-mail sent to both staff and students, said they would start booting cars (yes, now you can get a boot while you educate yourself or go to work) after $100 in tickets incurred. This, of course, from a department that outpaces every other university center or college in the SUNY system in revenue collected.

I spoke to another friend of mine about parking. She once incurred $500 worth of tickets, therefore making education a second priority to of course, paying tickets. She pleaded, cried, and begged for them to negotiate. No answer.

She called her father, who then called their office. He called her back, saying he got them down to $150. So, pretty much, no regard for the student or staff member, but if “Mommy or Daddy” calls, then they bend over backwards. I see.

The problem is what gives an institution or a private company the right to impose this behavior on your own private property. I asked, after the 30 or so minutes debating with one woman and finally asked a reasonable associate at Parking and Mass Transit about their appeal board. She told me, “Well, I can’t tell you who is on the board.”

What?

When did we, I don’t know, completely just not care about open meetings? When I was at Hudson Valley, I served on the parking appeals board – you knew the members, they consisted of students, faculty, and staff members, and the decisions were explicitly stated – not some e-mail that says “your appeal has been denied.” Did you know that they also place a hold after 14 days, regardless of whether or not you have appealed or knew you had a ticket? Again, where is the accountability here.

I normally don’t ask folks to get behind anything, but this is a serious ethical issue that has long range ramifications on the way our institutions and governments earn revenue. If you could, please sign the petition - I appreciate it.

Really, sorry for the rant, but I’m mad and I’m not going to take it anymore.