It's not that I don't "get the joke", it's just I perhaps don't think you should aim for big time laughs out of natural disasters. Sure, 24 people are dead (so far), millions are without power, but hey, let's go ahead and make jokes. It's hilarious, because it isn't happening to us.

On a different note, I might not be the best example of someone attempting to follow the principals of Christianity out there, but my own theological understanding was that God isn't crazy about people trying to assign intentions to his actions. But I'm sure the Bachmanns have some special line to God that I don't, one that says cutting the budget is the definitive moral act, not making sure people have access to affordable health care.

At some point, people will get tired of her act and the adults can talk about the future of the country, right?

[Politico]

You know what they say...teach old people how to create graffiti, give them spray cans and chaos ensues:

Formal courses and workshops on senior graffiti are careful to keep their work legal, either spraying on large canvas or securing the rights to public spaces, like the walls of culture centers. But not all of Germany's seniors spray inside the legal lines.

At age 61, Walter F. — better known by his artistic name OZ — is renowned in Germany for the smiley faces and other signature doodles he sprays around Hamburg; some 12,000 of his works can be spotted in the city. But his indiscriminate spraying often lands him in hot water: This July, he was sentenced to 14 months in jail on 11 counts of property damage. The German press, which has followed OZ for over a decade, now affectionately refers to him as Hamburg's "Graffiti Oldie."

Unlike OZ, who has been spraying for years, most of the students participating in courses like those offered by Jutta Hinz's Mosaik Kreis or Stephanie Hanna's Senior Street Art are newcomers to the graffiti game. But some have followed in the footsteps of pros like OZ, taking what they learned in the classroom and transferring it to less-than-legal public spaces.

Hanna revealed that she sometimes sees graffiti that she taught in one of her past workshops while walking through the streets of Berlin. She told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that apparently one or another of her students had taken to surreptitiously bringing what he or she learned in class to the city streets.

[HT: The Awl]

• Chef Owens' olive-oil cake was a hit at the now-defunct Ventana Room.

Krista Owens remembers the first time she saw baked Alaska blazing away in her childhood dining room. One could say that flaming dessert sparked a passion for pastry that grew and grew, eventually culminating in her current position as the new executive pastry chef for Loews Ventana Canyon resort.

Owens — who once made desserts for the now-defunct Ventana Room — is a straight-talker who throws down 80-hour work weeks without blinking. She’s that kind of chef, the kind who would “rather make 10 pans of brownies than waste two hours on my computer.” It appears to pay off. Her desserts are amazing, and people are crazy about them.

Consider the homemade ice cream, sorbet and gelato she’s churning out. The flavors change regularly, but recently she’s been making versions with Ibarra chocolate; Queen Creek olive oil and blueberries; and prickly pears harvested from the resort grounds. She also makes a banana-bread ice cream she uses for banana splits.

About those banana splits...

As someone who spends an obscene amount of time on the internet, I've seen plenty of videos of young people dancing in their living rooms while lip-syncing to pop songs, so that aspect of this video isn't all that unusual, but if someone can explain the fat baby on the couch and why these girls end up kicking him, I'd feel a lot better about life in general.

[Alex Blagg]

No big surprise (I called it, remember?), but Arizona ended up as Gawker's Worst State, for all the reasons you might have guessed.

What's most offensive is that the cheap shots aren't really all that well-written:

Arizona is a hissing snakepit of angry old white people (they are angry because they are literally being cooked to death) yelling at the immigrants and other Others whom they fear and loathe, and it is probably going to explode someday soon into a bright ball of orange fire and we will know that either the end times have come for us all or thank god we are finally rid of Arizona.

That's one sentence. One terribly constructed, not particularly clever sentence. I expect better, Gawker. I really do.

There’s a new menu down at Medusa Kabob House, the restaurant that’s brought Mediterranean fare to the old Casbah Tea House spot at 628 N. Fourth Ave.

Owner Ashur Davoudikia says he now offers a lamb-and-beef kabob, which he says are a bit more tender and flavorful than the straight-out beef kabobs he sells. There are chicken kabobs, too, as well as kabobs made with a combination of diced chicken and falafel.

Gyros and daily specials have also been added to the menu board. Today the special was a Greek casserole made with lamb, beef, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes and a grip of spices.

“Now we are making everything in house. Well, everything but the bread, and I’m working on getting the equipment for that,” said Davoudikia.

Call 647-2333 for more information.

Sure, it's hilarious when people fall down, but the second worst part* of any giant impending storm is when weatherpeople and their idiot producers feel like it's somehow necessary to shoot outside, with the wind and rain battering the poor TV personality. We get it. Storm bad. No need to risk being swept away by God's wrath on the East Coast for a two minutes of forgettable pseudo-news coverage.

* Ranking significantly beneath the destruction and human misery, clearly.

Although, for me, watching this movie with my wife might be mildly uncomfortable due to her shameless, undying crush on Johnny Depp, it's still an adaptation of a Hunter S. Thompson novel with a great cast. Something for both of us, I guess.

I believe this is my fourth Wu-Tang Clan related post here on The Range and it's possible I'm only talking to myself with this particular subject matter, but I have to stay true to my passions, and the GZA/Genius album Liquid Swords is definitely one of my favorite musical releases ever (no joke: it's an incredible album, if you enjoy gritty martial arts influenced rap AND WHO DOESN'T?). For some reason, GZA and his DJ collaborated with surfish indie act Wavves on Fuel TV, a channel which I previously thought just showed skateboarding videos on an endless loop. Who knew they made television magic happen as well?

I understand that someone must be Googling "what to ask before penis surgery", so it's possible CNN is doing the online world of information a favor with the article "5 questions to ask before having penis surgery", but I think the post brings up as many questions as it answers.

1. Who are these "tens of thousands of men" getting circumcised as adults?
2. Do we really have to suggest to people having penis surgery that they "clean up before"?
3. Can I just spend all five questions on the first one CNN mentions, "Do I really need this procedure?" and then follow up with "Seriously, do I really need this procedure?"
4. If this whole "penis surgery" thing is really necessary, they knock you out for that sort of thing and then erase the entire experience from your brain with one of those devices from Men in Black, right?

Life is confusing enough, CNN. This isn't helping.

[HT: The Hairpin]