Weekend Culture Compass — Jack, The National and Shark Week

Friday

Music — The National
First Avenue
701 1st Ave. N.
8 p.m.

The National are all the rage with the kids these days, what with their latest widely praised LP, “High Violet.” But these guys don’t just rest on the laurels of their studio production; check them out at First Avenue if you don’t believe the hype.

Saturday

Movies — The Jack Nicholson Experience: Five Easy Pieces
The Trylon
3258 Minnehaha Ave.
7 p.m., 9 p.m.

Jack Nicholson has been in a heck of a lot of quality flicks, winning him legions of fans and icon status. “Five Easy Pieces,” with its infamous chicken sandwich scene, is one that put ol’ Jack on the map.

Sunday

Art — Uptown Art Fair
Hennepin Ave. S. & Lake St.
10 a.m.

Start your lazy Sunday off right with a stroll through the Uptown Art Fair. There’s quality food, family-friendly tunes and, what else, a massive collection of local art for sale. It’s August already, which means summer is almost gone. Get outside while you still can.

Culture to Consume

Read this:
“Red Hook Road” is Ayelet Waldman’s latest release. If you know nothing else about her, know that she’s married to the amazing Michael Chabon — so you know she’s cool.

Listen to this:
Wavves’ “King of the Beach” has officially been released, so hunker down and give that sucker a run through if you didn’t already get the leak. It’s a solid summer record, so blast it as we ride off into the sunset that is the school year.
Check out Raghav Mehta’s review for full details.

Watch this:
If you’ve forgotten about Shark Week 2010, here’s your reminder. Grab a bowl (of chips), bake yourself (some brownies) or smoke a joint (of not marijuana) and watch these ancient beasts destroy everything in their paths.

Drink this:
Keeping in line with my tradition of recommending drinks based solely on their names, I give you Death in a Bottle. It’s 1 oz. Bacardi Limón, 1 oz. tequila, 1 oz. vodka, 1 oz. whiskey, 3 oz. strawberry mix, 2 oz. cranberry juice and 2 oz. orange juice. I’m sure it’s every bit as lethal as it sounds.

Eat this:
Apparently they’re selling complete sandwiches in cans now — for the high-class businessman who just doesn’t have the time to sit down and make his PB&J. My guess is these are terrible, but it’s worth a try. This is America after all.
Check them out at http://markonefoods.com/

Click this:
Finally, Auto-Tune is put to good use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw