Morning, all. Here at the Washington City Paper, it seems like everybody’s got their eye on the upcoming election. And it’s still August, so a lot of people in town won’t be waking up from their end-of-summer second gear mode ’til after Labor Day weekend. But there are still glints of culture—you just have to look a little harder.

The producer that’s behind the phenomenon that is “Jersey Shore” is eyeing a Southern spin-off, with the working title “Party Down South.” Sally Ann Salsano’s 495 Prods. already as two spin-offs in the works, the Los Angeles-based “Persian Version” (a bunch of Kim Kardashian wannabes?) and “Wicked Summer.” I’ll give you three guesses as to the location of the latter. What’s next–taking the “Jersey Shore” concept to Iowa?

If you’re in a band and you’re headed to Barcelona on tour, beware: don’t play your music too late or too long, or else pay the consequences. U2 has been fined $22,000 for rehearsing two hours after their scheduled time and for exceeding city-approved decibel levels prior to their concert in the Spanish city last year. But if you’re Bono and crew, you probably don’t care too much. They made $109 million last year, topping Billboard’s list of money makers.

“Top Chef D.C.” time! We’re getting near the end—can you feel the excitement in the air? The six remaining cheftestants packed their knives and headed to Nationals Park, where they ran a concession stand. Kelly made an open-faced crab cake BLT, Angelo made a sweet pork roll, Kenny made a chicken skewer, Ed made shrimp and corn fritter, Amanda made tuna tartare, and Tiffany made an Italian sausage meatball sandwich. A few Nats ballplayers, including Adam Dunn and John Lannan, showed up to sample the fare. They had seconds of the meatball sandwich and compared the shrimp and corn fritter to a “chewed up caterpillar that burst in your mouth.” Call me crazy, but I think that’s actually pretty accurate description for the texture of shrimp in general.

At any rate, it’s a good think they’re baseball players and not food critics, ’cause Ed ended up winning for his fritter, winning props for his ability to keep the outside crispy and the inside hot. For his efforts he took home one of guest judge Rick Moonen‘s cookbooks… and a trip to Australia. Amanda booked a long-overdue ticket home for her gray tartare. Her time was definitely up, but everybody actually seemed to like the taste of the tartare—they were just put off by its appearance. In this instance, I think Kenny should have gone home for his uninspired chicken topped with soggy French fries. Next week: last show before the finals!