If you spend any amount of time in the writing/publishing world, you'll hear an aspiring (or accomplished) writer extolling the virtues of Stephen Pressfield's The War of Art or Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. For good reason, too. The War of Art is an excellent book about discipline, a sparse quality among creative types. Outliers compellingly raises the argument that the only control you have over your career is how much work you put in, and about 10,000 hours should do it.

Doing work is absolutely crucial to success in the creative world, but I think these two books (Outliers especially) undervalue natural talent. I've known quite a few writers over the years from scrubs to accomplished authors, and what separates them is not usually work ethic. What separates them is a natural perception about the world around them, and an ability to articulate that perception. The most vibrant art I've experienced has been birthed from otherworldly insight, and most people I've met with those gifts aren't naturally hard workers. That's why The War of Art and the 10,000 Hour Rule are so valuable, but it's not as if anyone can write eight hours a day, five days a week and become a great writer.

Whatever natural writing talent is, whether it's genes or personality type or some intangible spirit, Lena Dunham has it up over her eyeballs.

From the same creative firm that created the Fall Out Boy version of "Oregon Trail", there's now a Flash-based game themed around the late 80's/early 90's sitcom Perfect Strangers, in which you play as Balki, chasing a dream by collecting stars as the show's theme plays. Yes, this is actually something that exists.

A special bonus, you can read through the "dreams" people have entered to "chase" which range from the desire to lose forty pounds to an aspiration to hunt and kill a unicorn.

On Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable tonight: We'll talk about the Supreme Court hearing on SB1070, examine whether the case will affect Latino politics in the 2012 election, look at how the presidential and U.S. Senate races are shaping up and check in on the latest between Republican Jesse Kelly and Democrat Ron Barber in the race to complete Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term. Tune in at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Channel 6 to see Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers and Tucson Tea Party founder Trent Humphries talk about all of this with Arizona Public Media political correspondent Christopher Conover and your moderator, Jim Nintzel.

I've mentioned the Hollywood Squares update, Hip Hop Squares, previously and I'm certainly excited for any new game show content, even if it's not among my first five choices, but I do thank Wu-Tang member/rap genius Ghostface Killah for the sincerity that he is bringing to the project:

He did have one concern. “They should have some real nice music” for the theme song, he said. “Like when you hear ‘Pyramid’ ” — he sang the theme song for “$20,000 Pyramid.” “You know what I mean? Everybody knows ‘The Price is Right.’ ” He sang that one. “What is this one going to be? Something that’s” vehemently — he used a different word — “unique.”

I am generally mildly upset when any game show stops production, but I'll particularly miss the extended run of Cash Cab, which managed to be clever, fun and actually be based on people knowing things. Nothing lasts forever, I suppose.

The ride's over for Discovery Network's Cash Cab. Vulture has learned exclusively that, after nearly seven years and more than 200 episodes, the cable network has decided to halt production on the Emmy–winning game show. A Discovery PR rep confirmed the demise. Hosted by Ben Bailey, Cab tweaked the conventional quizzer format by recruiting its contestants from the ranks of unsuspecting taxi passengers....

Because it usually aired outside of prime time, Discovery never made a big deal out of the show's Nielsen ratings, but TV insiders clearly loved it. Cash Cab beat out veterans such as Jeopardy! and The Price is Right to win the Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show in 2008, 2009, and 2010; Bailey won for Best Host in 2010. Repeats of the show will continue to air in syndication, and it's possible producer Lion Television could shop the show, which was based on a European format, to other cable networks.

Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rogers and Republican strategist John Ellinwood visit Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable to discuss the resignation of state Rep. Daniel Patterson, the latest bills at the Arizona Legislature, next week's GOP primary in the race to finish Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term and the ongoing battle over ethnic studies in the Tucson Unified School District.

"Well, that was a little on the bleak side."

That's how the supremely awesome Nathan Rabin began his recap of the fourth episode of Eastbound & Down's third season over at the AV Club. I'd call it poetic understatement. My feeling was, "How in the hell can the writers possibly redeem this guy?"

Let's recap Kenny Powers' descent, shall we? (SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP)

If you have 2 minutes and 42 seconds to kill today (and who are we kidding, you do), you really should watch this clip, apparently created by Jim Henson, intended to convince the executives at CBS that they should air The Muppet Show. Enthusiastic consumer patriotism...there's just not enough of that going around these days.

[Laughing Squid]

On Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable tonight: Election Day is near for the Republicans in the race to complete Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term and a Tucson City Councilman has a new idea about where to find money to fix Tucson's streets. Plus, the latest from the Arizona Legislature, including the effort to oust a Tucson lawmaker following the release of a shocking ethics report. Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers and Pima County Republican Party chairwoman Carolyn Cox join Arizona Public Media political correspondent Andrea Kelly and host Jim Nintzel for a look back on the week in Arizona politics. Tune in at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 6.

On tonight's Political Roundtable, Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers and Republican strategist Sam Stone talked about health-care politics in the state and the latest at the Arizona Legislature, as well as the challenges that the city of Tucson and Pima County face in fixing streets and funding mass transit. There's a little bit of political gossip in there as well, so tune in, why don't you?