In Tucson, we complain about the heat every summer even when we know that come July, it will be hot. We live in the Sonoran Desert. We live in Tucson. During the summer it's hot. That's the way it is always going to be.

But this NSFW video making its way through the internets captures the internal conversations we have with ourselves every summer. In Moldy Pueblo speak, that's "I am not a lizard" (and while wiping sweat from our necks while watching a band at Club Congress: "Why do I live in Tucson? Why did I leave my house tonight?").

(Note: Last week, when writing about the Jodi Arias Lifetime Original Movie Whoops! He Fell On the Knife Over and Over Again or whatever the hell it's called, I used the phrase "this is fucking stupid."

I would like to apologize for using that sentence — not because it is offensive to those who have tender language sensibilities, but because repeated use of that phrase tends to lessen its impact...that, and I have a self-imposed quota for the seven words you can't say on television that I may soon go over. With that said...)

According to the widely-read, nationally-known food blog Eater, there is a rumor that a reality television series based on the exploits of Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, owners of Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, is in the works.

This news comes via a report from Radar Online, who writes that an unnamed source claims that Cineflix (the producers of such television gold as American Pickers and Property Virgins) is "the most serious production company trying to secure Amy and Samy." God help them.

More from Radar Online:

“Amy and Samy are all for it because they feel like it’s the only way to keep their restaurant open.”

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Amy and Samy’s appearance on Kitchen Nightmares was the most memorable in the show’s history, and after an onslaught of online hate mail and death threats directed towards the couple it was revealed that Amy is a convicted felon, Samy is currently facing deportation, the restaurant had a history of Health Department violations and business continues to fail — making them reality TV gold.

“Right now their agent is just looking out for them to make sure they get the best deal, so they want to wait on signing with Cineflix to make sure they’ve seen all the deals on the table,” the source told Radar.

“But no doubt, you will be seeing Amy and Samy on TV again sometime in the future. They need to generate money and publicity to keep their business going, otherwise customers just dropping in because of their Kitchen Nightmares appearance will fizzle and their restaurant will go under.”

This is fucking stupid.

• Liz and Dick in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?': Blissful domestic disharmony not on Pinterest

A post on NBC News' Today blog that identified something now known as "Pinterest stress" has me really stressed right now. Seriously, folks, I guess women in particular, can't we agree at this point in our lives to tell domestic harmony to go fuck itself? Hasn't the ex-con Martha Stewart taught us anything?

I had to turn to my coworker, David Mendez, to make sure I'm not even close to suffering from Pinterest stress (first you actually have to have a Pinterest account, right?).

"David, I don't come across as someone who cares about domestic harmony, right?" I asked.

He paused for a while, then answered, "No, Mari, far from it."

"Whew. Thanks," I said.

Thinking he insulted me, which is pretty normal at Weekly World Central, Mendez followed up saying, "It's because you have other things to be concerned about."

Yes. Yes. I do and so should lots of other people, evidently.

You can read all about Pinterest stress here. A snippet:

For many moms, social media is both a blessing and a curse. We go to sites like Pinterest and Facebook for connection and inspiration — but all too often, the beautiful images of domestic harmony make us feel inadequate.

In our exclusive TODAY Moms survey of 7,000 U.S. mothers, 42 percent said that they sometimes suffer from Pinterest stress — the worry that they’re not crafty or creative enough. Symptoms include staying up until 3 a.m. clicking through photos of exquisite hand-made birthday party favors even though you’ll end up buying yours at the dollar store, or sobbing quietly into a burnt mess of expensive ingredients that were supposed to be adorable bunny cookies for the school bake sale.

“It tricks you into thinking that everyone is baking their own bread,” said Jenna Andersen, 28, a Palo Alto, Calif., mom of two, photographer and blogger behind the hilarious site Pinterest Fail, which chronicles Pinterest-inspired crafts and recipes gone oh-so-wrong. She’s still a fan of the site, but she’s learned not to let herself think that the artfully curated photos represent anyone’s reality. “Pinterest is largely a site of unrealized dreams.”

Los Angeles Times recently published an article titled "Eight things killing the Harlem Shake" which shows specific videos that are making the meme played out already.

The LA Times explains:

The Harlem Shake burst onto the scene last week, but already the poor meme is showing signs of looming death.

We're not saying the Harlem Shake will surely die, but unless some things change, it'll soon fall out of public favor. Here are eight reasons:

8. Sports teams are doing it.
7. They've become too extravagant.
6. Grandparents are doing it.
5. Even people in the videos don't even care anymore.
4. Don't go all film school (referring to UCLA's Harlem Shake).
3. Even Midwestern ad agencies are doing it.
2. It's not funny anymore.
1. The "Today" show has done it.

The article makes a good point about the trending videos. They're really being overdone. The worst two in the LA Times' list are the Florida Gators one, where the mascot starts with a awful, disturbing pelvic thrust that I thought would never end, and The Today Show's version of the Harlem Shake, where they wear Valentine's Day themed shirts and dance with hearts and throw roses up in the air. If it wasn't dying out before, it definitely is after that video!

I think my co-worker said it best a couple days ago when he asked, "Do you guys know what the Harlem Shake is? All I'm seeing are videos of one person dancing, then a bunch of people dancing. I don't get it."

That's exactly it! It really is that simple. Which is probably why so many people followed the trend, but also why it's dying out so soon. It's not a real dance, there is no point to it. And, just like when a radio station plays the same song over and over, or different radio stations play the same song too often, it's getting old!

While the UA's Harlem Shake around Brother Jed may have still been timely and fun, Wilbur and Wilma plan to lead the Harlem Shake at tonight's halftime show, joining the many who are killing the already overrated meme.

The U of A will be hosting a two-day Hip-Hop symposium this week to teach the community about the many faces of the culture in attempt to get rid of common stereotypes that are attributed to Hip-Hop.

Organizers argue that Hip-Hop goes beyond these stereotypes and should be discussed in an academic institution:

Thus, as researchers and educators, our view of hip-hop culture goes beyond the stereotypical gangster and drug cultures to incorporate this expressive medium's relationships and presences across different academic disciplines such as art, music, dance, language/poetry, religion, gender, culture, history, politics, marketing, fashion, sociology, management as well as film, radio, television and performance studies. Besides its commercial clout, hip-hop's role in challenging stereotypes, destabilizing and unsettling the meaning of blackness and bridging cultural divides in the USA and abroad, merits a place in serious academic discussions of how contemporary societies function.

Hats off to the event planners for reaching out to the community and trying to set the record straight about a culture that has been ignored or considered demeaning in the past.

Hip-Hop music, videos and movies that go mainstream are often those that display violence, drugs and sex, making it difficult to take the culture seriously. Its roots, which reflect a history of black oppression, have been buried and, at the surface, most only see negative connotations of what Hip-Hop is.

Not only have songs and movies tying Hip-Hop to violence, gangs and drugs allowed people to ignore the truth about the culture, they have also allowed these people to separate themselves from it. Such stereotypes allow people to see the struggles that Hip-Hop reflects as a struggle among blacks instead of one which we are all responsible for.

Hip-Hop is not just a negative, violent or demeaning culture. It is a cry for help. It is an expression of a way of life that surrounds us all. It is an artistic and talented culture that should not be ignored. All things in life balance good and bad aspects. In recent years main stream society hasn't seen this balance between the two when it comes to the Hip-Hop culture.

As far as the negative connotations, I think it's time we stop pointing fingers or ignoring the violence, drugs and gangs and instead ask ourselves why Hip-Hop has such a reputation. How can we change it? It's obviously a pattern, and it's obviously political. Society as a whole in the U.S. just needs to care enough to address the problems instead of isolating them. Of course, it's always easier to point fingers.

Embracing the positive, addressing the negative and bridging cultural gaps is what the Hip-Hop culture needs and it looks like the U of A is moving in the right direction.

"The Poetics & Politics of Hip-Hop Cultures" will take place Feb. 7 and 8 at the U of A Student Union Memorial Center and Poetry Center and is free and open to public.

The upcoming year seems to look pretty promising in terms of film; The Great Gatsby, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The Spectacular Now (just to name a few) all seem rather promising as far as I'm concerned.

But it wouldn't be a well-rounded year without at least one flick with a bizarre storyline and even stranger cast. Enter Spring Breakers. In case you missed the trailer and don't have two minutes to waste, here's a brief synopsis:

Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine are four women in college who apparently like to spend most of their time sitting around in bikinis, hitting up saunas and calling each other derogatory names. When spring break rolls around, the four of them, all strapped for cash, end up being the only ones still on campus. Insistent on getting a change of scenery, they come up with a plan to earn a few bucks and get out of town for a while. Host a car wash? Nope. Get jobs like normal people? Not a chance.

They rob a restaurant.

A lot of the time when looking through the news I have to do so with a filter—sometimes to look through news that is less-than-credible, sometimes to look past things that are generally irrelevant and sometimes to straight-up ignore the things that are.

On Wednesday's Rush Limbaugh show, after a lengthy treatise on elitism that endorsed the already-tired NRA attack ad that claims that the President's children are more important that yours by virtue of the armed guards that protect them, Limbaugh got into the topic of gun control with a caller. The call wandered over to the subject of abortion. I've excerpted a partial transcript of it below; click through for the full version:

CALLER: ...It's just terrible that 26 people died in Sandy Hook and 20 of them were children. Terrible. Very sad, coming up to Christmas. Hopes and dreams the young children had, their parents and weddings and congratulations that will never occur. However, on any given day in America, more than 3,000 children are killed from abortion, and we have no problems with that. We're okay with that; it's not an issue.

You can't spend 40 years telling people and telling children that if I make a mistake — if something comes up and this child that I don't want is in the way of my future and the way of me graduating high school, is in the way of me going to college, is the way of me being happy, is in the way of whatever I want out of life — then it's okay for me to kill the baby. But later on when I become a disgruntled employee, when I become an unhappy student at school because children are bullying me, then I want to eliminate them to get them out of the way? It's the same concept.

RUSH: Well, it's a good point. You know how to stop abortion? Require that each one occur with a gun.

Sorry, what?