There is a great organization in Albany called The Barn.   They’re a nonprofit group dedicated to creating a permanent, sustainable creative arts incubator and neighborhood art space in Albany, NY.  (I just copied and pasted that from their website.  I normally wouldn’t know how to use the word incubator unless talking about baby chicks.)

Recently, The Albany Barn is moving forward with the Albany Housing Authority to convert St. Joseph’s Academy, a beautiful and spacious former school building in Arbor Hill, into a community arts space. The massive first floor will include several large galleries, significant performance and flex space, cafe, work studios, rehearsal studios, a dark room and digital media lab. Affordable live-work apartments with private bathrooms & kitchens will be located on the upper floors.  (I copied and pasted that, too, but doesn’t it sound great!)

In a nutshell, they’re a great organization who do great things for local artists.

For those of you who can’t draw a square and really just wanna party, start paying attention….. NOW.   On March 5th at 9pm, there’s a great party called The Pink Party.  It’s a pink themed cocktail party slash fundraiser I’ve hosted  for the last 4 years.  In 2009, my friend Chris Pratt started helping me with The Pink Party and now we host it together.  Chris brings the ladies, I bring the vodka.  It’s a winning combination.

This year, The Pink Party is a fundraiser for The Barn, and it will be held in a space called The Upper Room (located above The Dirty Martini Lounge).  The entrance is located on Steuben Street in downtown Albany, and it’s a beautiful room that will be decorated in all sorts of pink.  It’s a very fun, lively party, and most people get really dressed up in fun, pink themed clothing to celebrate.

The cost per ticket is $40 in advance, available here on Friday Puppy (link at the top), or you can buy a ticket at the door ($50) the night of the party.  There’s an Open Bar from 9 – 11pm, and all proceeds go to The Albany Barn.

So whattya say, are we dancing together March 5th?

please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say yes please say

With Super Bowl Sunday being one of the biggest pop culture events on the planet, I thought it would only be fitting to provide my view on Super Bowl Sunday’s most exciting event, the Puppy Bowl.

Do any of you Friday Puppy readers watch the Puppy Bowl?  According to Wikipedia (the best source for any information), over 8 million people watch this amazing concoction of cuteness, cuddliness and pure athleticism.  This year was a Puppy Bowl like no other, it was Puppy Bowl VI.  I have been a fan of the Puppy Bowl since college, when my roommate and I stumbled upon it (we were most likely drunk).

In the interest of filling up an entire post, let me list what exactly it is that I love about the Puppy Bowl:

1.  They are all pound puppies.  What a fun way for a puppy to spend the day, take a break from the chain link box they live in and get out to play with some other pups.

2.  They have a nice mix of all breeds and they tell you what kind of puppy they are.  I love seeing a dog and then trying to determine what breed they are, I do the same thing with our very own Friday Puppies!

3.  They have cute facts about the puppies that make me laugh, take Jersey Boy for instance, this 12 week old Maltese/Yorkie mix loves The Jersey Shore.

4.  The puppies are completely unaware that they are providing the cutest entertainment on the planet.  They bite, poop, pee and act a fool for the cameras and they do it with such a sweet innocence that I can’t help but love them all.

5.  I love picking my favorite dog of the group and cheering for them.  This year, Carson an 11 week old German Shepherd mix stole my heart.  I am drinking hot tea all day to sooth my throat from all of the cheering that I did for my little buddy Carson.

Let me quickly get through my list of dislikes about the Puppy Bowl:

1.  The kitty half-time show, WHAT A WASTE OF TIME.  Enough said.

So what do you guys think?  Did you watch the Puppy Bowl?  Did you like it?  Did you have a favorite puppy?  OMG, I am dying to know.

As of Saturday, I didn’t even know who was in the Super Bowl.

I have a Colts hat which I wear because I like the color of it, and whenever I wear it, random people strike up conversation with me about the Colts, which I always just go along with because I’m too embarrassed to say “I don’t follow the NFL, I just wear the hat because of the color”.  But today I’m letting all 17 of you know that I don’t follow the NFL and really don’t get into the Super Bowl all that much.  (well obviously, I like the commercials.)

But having watched the game at a Super Bowl party, here are some thoughts:

1.  The Dorito Bowl.  Doritos must have had a very very good year.  They had like 11 commercials in the first half.

2.  Is it possible to have a television event without some form of Beyonce getting involved?

3.  As innocent as it may seem, it’s dangerous that CBS allowed FocusOnTheFamily.com to play their commercial, but banned the gay dating site ManCrunch.com from televising their ad, but let GoDaddy.com televise ads that focus on girl on girl action.  I’m just saying.  Although, apparently a gay man (Neil Patrick Harris) pretending to like women so long as it’s promoting CBS, is totally fine.

4.  Speaking of GoDaddy.com, tell me why do I care about this website?  I  checked out their site, expecting it to be about something pleasingly inappropriate, but the site is for registering internet domain names.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

5.  My favorite commercial I think:

6.  If I was a sports photographer, and by the grace of God I end up being right  next to the coach of the winning superbowl team, and all of a sudden 2 guys dump 30 gallons of gatorade all over my $40,000 camera, I’d be upset.

7.  The Who?  Those jokes write themselves.  It’s a shame that one little wardrobe malfunction and now we’re forced to have bands from 20 years ago.  Apparently next year they’ve managed to sign on this new group, Simon and Garfunkel, who will hopefully sing their new hit, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

8.  I usually really like her, but I was a little Carrie Underwhelmed by her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.  Her last note is still in my head, and not in a good way.

Ladies and gentleman,

we have a new contributor to Friday Puppy.  His name is Andrew.  He is a so-so friend of mine who lives in Chicago, IL.  He has a quick sense of humor and a killer haircut.

I asked Andy to contribute Pop Culture items to the blog, but knowing Andy, he’ll be insubordinate and write about Pizzeria Uno and the White Sox.  But whatever he posts, I’m sure it will be entertaining (can you feel the pressure, Andy?).

Like Christy and David, who combined have written a staggering 6 posts (to my 207… thanks Christy and David for all your hard work.  I don’t know how you find the time to do it!), Andrew will be posting whenever he feels like it.   (speaking of which, remember Political Puppy??  I haven’t seen that dog running around lately.)

So without further (however you spell it.. ado, adieu, a dude)… welcome to Friday Puppy, Andrew.

(you can also read Andrew’s BIO by clicking here.)

This week we are trying to find a good home for the beautiful, the one, the only….TATE!!!

Look at that beautiful smile.  And those loving eyes.  Tate is a spayed female Pit Bull Terrier.   She loves all people, is a happy girl, and is great with other dogs.   Tate also loves to play, but can also settle down well.  And she is housebroken and very smart.

Tate got a 2nd chance at life when she was taken by Peppertree Dog Rescue from a shelter in NYC, where she had been brought in as a stray.

So whattya say?  Do you have the love to give to this beautiful dog who needs a home?

If so, please contact the good people at Peppertree Dog Rescue by going to their website, or calling (518) 435-7425 for more information.

Before I forget, next Friday will be the coveted Friday Poopy Edition of Friday Puppy.  If you have any tasteful, artistic photos of your cute little pup taking a dump, please send it along to me at FridayPuppy@gmail.com.   All entries will be posted.  And whoever wins this edtion of Friday Puppy will win a $50 Gift Certificate to a local Pet Store (to be determined) and a sweet Friday Puppy tshirt.

The following dogs are this week’s batch of Friday Puppy dogs.  Please take a second or an hour and review the following dogs very carefully.  Very carefully.  Whichever dog you feel is the cutest of the bunch, please vote for that dog in our Cutest Friday Puppy poll in the upper right corner.  Whichever dog wins this poll will win the aforementioned Friday Puppy tshirt  (also for sale for you to wear proudly at Bombers or Wolff’s.)

Say woof to this week’s Friday Puppies!

More Photos »

Each week at Friday Puppy we’re going to try to give away a prize to our readers.  It will work similarly to the 12 Days of Christmas contest we had over the holidays.  It will most likely be on Thursdays, so get ready to win some fantastic prizes.

For this week’s prize, we are featuring a very talented artist named Jennifer Maher who started a business this past year called Custom Toy Portraits.  She’s a painter who specializes in portraits of unique and significant toys, particularly kids “lovies”.  (her words not mine, I actually have no clue what “lovies” are.  yikes.)

If you are interested in having a portrait of your dog (or cat, I assume), be the 28th commenter on this post and Jennifer will d0 a FREE portrait (8″x10″ size and $100 value) of your cute pet, for you to have forever and ever and everrrrr.   Actually, now that I am reading through her website, there are many different kinds of portraits she does, so it doesn’t have to be pet specific.   I mean, Valentine’s Day IS coming up, so maybe you can have her paint a very sexy portrait of you on your couch in your sweatpants eating chocolate.

UPDATE:  Congratulations to CSSM who has won this week’s Puppy Prize!

I love dreads, always have. My love cultivated in part out of obsession with Bob Marley’s locks and music, partially out of the blonde dreads Angelina Jolie sported in Gone in 60 Seconds and, mostly, out of my long standing aversion to washing my hair everyday (I won’t link you to a picture of that).

Don’t judge, I think it’s actually better for your hair if you don’t wash it every day. Your scalp produces natural oils that can’t possibly be replicated, no matter how much companies spend on testing.

I am now almost 31 years old and I still haven’t mustered enough nerve to just do it. My hair has never been as long as it currently is which is the main factor in my fear of finally having it done. It scares me to think that the only way to get dreads out of your hair is to cut them out. Is there no alternative?

Well, for me there is one, even if it is somewhat of a temporary circumvention. I can now live vicariously through my offspring! So, as soon as my little munchkin sprouts some hair long enough I’m dreading his noggin.

Or, I can adopt a Hungarian Puli Sheep Dog. I honestly don’t know which option would be most adorable running around the house, an 18 month old with dreads or this dog. Man, dilemma.