I fall into the camp of really admiring artist/provocateur Banksy, especially after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop, so I'm obviously in the target audience for The Antics Roadshow, a documentary about pranksters varying from the political motivated to the simply bored which aired on England's Channel 4 this weekend, but I would imagine someone else would be amused by watching at least the first segment when someone attempts to re-create Mario Kart in the real world.

In typical Banksy form, he's somewhat dismissive of his own creation:

Explaining his reasoning behind the show, Banksy said: ‘Basically I just thought it was a good name for a TV programme and I’ve been working back from there’.

The first segment of four is above, the following three are below the cut (as long as they last on YouTube, at least).

While I suppose it is a useful hint to turn your passed-out friends on their sides so they don't choke on their own vomit, it might be even more helpful to suggest to those same friends that there's a space somewhere between "drunk" and "on the verge of death" that might be better to occupy.

[Daily What]

I like Top Chef. I enjoyed the first season, and I think I've watched every episode since. I was given a Top Chef cookbook as a gift from which I've made a few delicious meals. The show seems quite successful. People talk about it. In the midst of a glut of cooking competition shows, Top Chef was the one that actually seemed to feature talented, generally sincere, chefs showing off what they do well. The formula was working, the judges were likable, intelligent and interesting.

So, of course, Bravo has to screw with the show and add Emeril Lagasse:

Bam! Emeril Lagasse will be kicking "Top Chef" up a notch. He has cooked up a judging gig on next season of the Bravo food competition.

Joining the Cajun-style chef, who has hosted cooking shows on the Food Network since the late 1990s, will be Hugh Acheson who competed on "Top Chef Masters."

But fans shouldn't worry. "Top Chef" staples Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will remain on the Bravo competition when it returns in the fall.

Another aspect of the show which will change for its ninth season is it will travel between three Texas cities — Austin, San Antonio and Dallas — instead of usually remaining in just one.

Lagassee has already been spotted dining in local restaurants with Lakshmi, Colicchio and Simmons in San Antonio, where "Top Chef" began filming in late June.

I like Hugh Acheson a lot, and I don't have the general hatred for Emeril that some foodie types do, but why does the show need more people talking? Five judges all fighting to get a word in? That seems like a disaster, but then again, the show has decided to celebrate the food of Dallas and San Antonio (I'll give Austin a pass), so I guess disaster is part of the theme. Oh well.

I don't know if the cover of today's New York Post is helping me understand what's going on with the stock market, but at least the headline is funny, and humor might be our last resort against the impending economic doom.

Speaking of which, the Dow is tumbling again today as the markets prepare for some sort of European financial collapse:

Stocks extended their selloff Wednesday to wipe out most of the previous session's sharp rally as financials led the decline amid jitters over the U.S. economy and the ongoing euro zone crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged sharply, led by Disney and BofA, after surging over 600 points in the final hour of trading in the previous session. The blue-chip index has had triple-digit moves in four of the last five trading days.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell almost 3 percent each. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 40.

All 10 S&P sectors slumped, led by financials, which tumbled about 6 percent.

In other financial news, the value of my jar of pennies remains unchanged today, even after a influx of six cents added late yesterday.

It's your Tucson Weekly calendar girl, here, in my Tucson's Birthday hat, inviting you to listen in for fun, foolishness and some Tucson facts from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight on Starr Tracks with Laurie Starr, 91.3FM KXCI Community Radio.

You'll hear a crazy range of musical birthday wishes, from Sufjan Stevens and the Soft Bulletin to Weird Al Yankovic and Ralph Stanley. (No Beatles or Stevie Wonder, even!)

Call in with that one fact you know about Tucson that will stump our guest, Arizona historian and author Jim Turner, or get the right answer to a trivia question and you'll win a Birthday comp you can parlay into years of birthday gifts for your friends.

We'll all be talking about a few Tucson's Birthday events you shouldn't miss, too. Call 622-5924 and let us know you're out there!

If the article itself weren't ridiculous enough (largely focused on the fact that Barack Obama enjoys some cultural elements that some African-Americans also enjoy), the URL is really charming: "obama-parties-chris-rock-jay-z-and-whoopi-while-rome-burns". For some reason, noted urban celebrities Tom Hanks, DNC Chair Tim Kaine, and Chief of Staff Pete Rouse aren't mentioned in that list, but maybe the web guy over at Fox ran out of room. Anyone know what John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell were doing last night? I imagine staying up all night fixing the economy. No reason to believe otherwise.

Related:

Obama Turns 50 Despite Republican Opposition

WASHINGTON—After months of heated negotiations and failed attempts to achieve any kind of consensus, President Obama turned 50 years old Thursday, drawing strong criticism from Republicans in Congress. "With the host of problems this country is currently facing, the fact that our president is devoting time to the human process of aging is an affront to Americans everywhere," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who advocated a provision to keep Obama 49 at least through the fall of 2013.

• Photo Ryn Gargulinski
• Internet scams are getting sneakier by the minute.

Now that people have become wise to Nigerian money scam e-mails and “click here” buttons that infect computers with the latest virus, deceptive online practices are getting sneakier.

One sucked me in the other day, promising I could win $1,000 if I submitted a cute photo of my pet. Since I obsess over my dog Sawyer to the point of probably needing psychological help, I chomped on that offer with a few clicks of the mouse, a submission form, and uploading one of the 5,428 endearing photos I have of the pooch.

One thousand dollars could buy a heck of a lot of dog treats.

The junk e-mail began immediately. I was first encouraged to tell all my friends, family members and people I might have passed on the street 12 years ago to vote for my dog’s endearing photo. After all, I was told, the only way I could win that $1,000 was to amass the most votes from fellow Internet suckers.

Anyone who wanted to vote, of course, had to fill out their own submission form that disclosed their name, e-mail, phone number, blood type, shoe size and date of birth. They would then be immediately slammed with their own set of junk e-mail.

Clearly, you've been listening to Fook on the KFMA morning show to hear me discuss pop culture events at 8:10 Wednesday mornings, but have you felt like you just wanted to know a little more about the man behind the microphone. Thanks to intern Katie Cunningham, you know have your chance.

When videos of kittens just won't do, the Tucson Police Department has a YouTube channel with videos of intersection collisions and near-collisions from video traffic cameras around the city.

The Tucson Police Department would like to remind everyone of the importance of following traffic laws and paying close atention to the lights at intersections.

This video shows the importance of checking before turning on a yellow light to make sure that all oncoming traffic is slowing to a stop.

These videos are not meant to ridicule specific drivers in Tucson, but are released to increase awareness and public safety.

Enjoy:

Section A: Star, 10; Not Star, 23
Sports: Star, 3; Not Star, 8
Arts: Star, 6; Not Star, 1