Museyon’s Guide to the Weekend

 
Celebrations:
Nelson Mandela’s birthday- The United Nations has declared Mandela’s birthday on July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day, this year he turns 92. Scores of businesses and public institutions in South Africa are mobilizing their staff to devote at least 67 minutes, representing the 67 years Mandela devoted to politics, to a good cause.
 
Film:
There are two big summer blockbusters opening this weekend. The first is, Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Christopher Nolan, the same person behind Dark Night. Inception focuses on the fine art of stealing secrets from dreams.

The second is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a big budget Disney flick that sees the Sorcerer, Nicolas Cage, and his apprentice trying to save New York City from an evil nemesis.
 
For indie fans, there are two excellent films opening, The Killer Inside Me and Winter’s Bone. The Killer Inside Me focuses on a small town in Texas and the sheriff, Casey Affleck, who unbeknownst to the locals, harbors deep psychopathic desires.
 
Similarly, Winter’s Bone, set in the rural Ozarks, is the story of a daughter forced to hunt down her father after he puts up the family home for bail bond and escapes to the Mountains.
 

 
Reads:
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Whittman.- The true story of the founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, and his real life, heart-pounding, Thomas Crown Affair- like, tales that bring the reader around the world in his pursuits of such objects as: The golden armor of an ancient Peruvian warrior king. The Rodin sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement. The headdress Geronimo wore at his final Pow-Wow. The rare Civil War battle flag carried into battle by one of the nation’s first African-American regiments.
 
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut by Rob Sheffield – In his first memoir, Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield tells the heartbreaking story of falling in love with his wife then unexpectedly losing her to an embolism. In this pre-quel of sorts, Sheffield shares vignettes about his adolescence growing up with the sounds of the 80s and in particular, Duran Duran.
 
Music:
Siren Festival, NY, NY- Every year, the Village Voice takes over Coney Island for the Siren festival. A completely free day of music with a circus freak theme set on two stages whose performers switch off times so that there is never a quiet moment, quite literally, during the festival. Find our tips for the festival here.