Trash Humpers, Harmony Korine’s latest movie, a portrait of the American landscape shot in the gutters of the filmmaker’s native Nashville, was filmed long before the city was flooded. The movie is currently screening around the United States, but why buy a ticket to witness the blight of Music City when you can engage it on the road this summer with all your senses? Rising above the stain of the high water mark on Highway 100 wafts the scent of warm biscuits from the legendary Loveless Cafe and its lesser known competitor the Beacon Light Tea Room; come up Nolensville Road and idyllic farmhouses foreclosed upon and antique Americana strewn on lawns may give you pause, but only until the sticky sweet smoke of Martin’s BBQ Joint pulls you closer to town, and after one of their Redneck Tacos, you realize what lays ahead is worth, at the very least, the investment of your time.

1) The Cannery: Now that you’ve eaten on your way in, prepare to burn off the biscuits and cue on the Cannery’s dancefloor. A far yodel from the crammed bars and cover charges on boot-trodden Broadway, the Cannery serves as a reminder that new music doesn’t just come out of Nashville, but comes here to pay its respects. The schedule for the rest of the summer includes acts as diverse as Chromeo and Crystal Castles. If you’re going to buy a ticket, don’t be shy. One thing most every act who plays the Cannery has in common is an ability to make fans move their feet. At a recent Sharon Jones performance, the singer pulled men and women of every age shape and size on stage to see how well her funk traveled from Bushwick.

2) The Patterson House: Like the Violet Hour in Chicago, you would expect police tape surrounding the exterior of Toby Maloney’s Patterson House, but there are no signs of bogeymen lurking behind the foyer bathroom doors. While the Violet Hour eerily recreates the set of Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” its Nashville counterpart is like a gaming riverboat at night with the bonus of shrimp corndogs to pair with your bourbon, not to mention no sign of an epithet-slurring Mel Gibson dressed up as Maverick.

3) Prince’s Hot Chicken: If the corndogs didn’t do it, you’ll sober up as soon as you breathe deep the spice of even the mildest of Prince’s fried chicken, sandwiched between a smattering of pickles and a sponge of moist white bread that’s necessary to make the heat more tolerable. Step out of your car at 3am and walk toward the only light in the strip mall parking lot, and suddenly you’re in an episode of Dave Attell’s “Insomniac.” The no-frills shack – a walk-up window, high wooden pews forming the booths, and a small television facing the kitchen – has exactly what you need and nothing else: clear instructions, lots of napkins, clean bathrooms, and the most severe, sobering, and satisfying fried chicken at any hour, anywhere.

4) Crema: By now you’ve woken up, but you haven’t sobered up. Head to Crema on Hermitage Avenue for an iced Vietnamese made with condensed milk and espresso (and wonder why something so simple is impossible to find in Manhattan) and you’ll understand why I needn’t write anything clever to sell you on it.

5) Venus & Mars: While you’re stimulated and at your thinnest, pop into what’s considered the country’s best vintage store – fair warning, it’s more Venus than Mars – to dress like all the girls you caught catching your boyfriend’s eye at the Cannery last night, bouncing about in fitted polka dots and beaded peep toes — because girls would rather look good dancing down here than striking a pose. (Though the proprietress, supermodel Karen Elson aka Mrs. Jack White, has been known to do both.) If you want to come to Nashville prepared, a selection of the showroom’s choice finds can be bought online through their Etsy shop.

6) Bongo Java: Reward yourself by diving into an immaculate confection at Bongo Java. The Belmont campus outpost of locally praised cafe Fido, Bongo is famous for its Nun Bun, a cinnamon roll that resembles Mother Teresa which was stolen from the restaurant in 2005. Fortunately the rest of their menu is worth paying for and no less eccentric, especially the buttermilk cake with beet frosting, which you can take out to enjoy at a table on the front lawn, just as God intended.

7) Imogene & Willie: It’s not easy to find a souvenir to bring home that you can’t find anywhere else. For a few more weeks, that’s true of the jeans at Imogene & Willie, which before announcing a collaboration with J Crew, were only available from their 12th Avenue South shop. Sure they’re $400 a pair, but it’s not like you didn’t notice the men at the show last night, too. And you don’t need a cinnamon bun to have an epiphany: men shouldn’t be borrowing their girlfriend’s jeans. It’s not just an investment in the local economy, but your relationship, as well.

Eater National posted the news today that the London Eye will be turned into a pop-up restaurant as part of the London Restaurant Festival. Among the chefs slated to participate are Daniel Boulud, Mark Hix, and Gordon Ramsay. The basics: "For eleven nights (an increase from the six sold-out nights last year), one capsule will become a ten-seat dining room, completing one rotation for each course. Four courses, four rotations." For the full details, check out National's post.

Welcome to Star Maps, a new feature wherein a big timer does our work for us. For the second post in the series, we've enlisted the help of Grant Achatz, chef and owner of America's best restaurant.

For last month's Star Map, David Chang's Guide To Tokyo, click here.

Chicago has always had serious gastronomic clout amongst the nation's cities. Names like Trotter, Banchet, Bayless and Joho have been a driving force in the American culinary scene for over twenty years. But a recent burst of young, creative risk takers has helped establish Chicago as a world class food city by filling in the holes that once existed, while creative cocktails and authentic ethnic cuisine continue to grow. Alinea keeps me busy day and night, Wednesday through Sunday. These are the places that I crave all week, and where you'll most likely find me come Monday.

- Grant Achatz

Celtics-Lakers. Growing up just north of Boston in the 1980s, that matchup was the big sports rivalry, not Red Sox-Yankees, both of whom were mediocre and likely never played a meaningful game that decade. And June meant it was time for filthy dirt balls like Kurt Rambis to get their comeuppance from fine upstanding players like Kevin McHale in the NBA Finals. It's time for the Celtics and Paul Pierce, a man so honorable he's nicknamed "The Truth," to take on the Lakers' squad of brawlers (Ron Artest), junkies (Lamar Odom) and facial enthusiasts (Kobe Bryant) in the NBA FInals. Beat L.A.!

- Zach Everson