The annual Netroots Nation conference for liberal bloggers starts today, in Las Vegas. (Prostitutes, man your call centers!) And to fête the arrivals, the Democratic Governors Association has produced this Arcade Fire-backed motivational movie montage. Get. Pumped. Bloggers. [via]

Do you have a penchant for high-alcohol-content (55%, y'all) beer and taxidermy, and also have $760 to blow? If so, then this new beer product packaged inside dead rodents by Scottish company BrewDog is for you. Video and more, inside.

Ever wonder what a YouTube video with 30 million hits can get you? You have to keep your day job, but you get a segment on Tosh.0 and a performance with Josh Homme. Not fair, but at least it's funny.

In your forthright Thursday media column: Martin Bashir heads to MSNBC, the WSJ says its reporter was wrongly arrested in Chicago, the NYT Co's second quarter earnings, and an angry rant from a retiring sportswriter.

Mel Gibson's alleged excuse for breaking ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva's teeth with his fist: He was crabby because he was quitting smoking. He probably thought she was a giant cigarette the day he threatened to set fire to her home. [TMZ]

Two former employees have filed this class-action suit against celebrity chef Mario Batali and business partner Joseph Bastianich, accusing them of withholding tips and violating minimum wage and overtime laws.

Inappropriately fired USDA employee Shirley Sherrod, unafraid of exercising her limitless leverage, wanted a phone conversation with President Obama. She got her wish "at about 12:35" today, according to the White House. "They spoke for seven minutes." Pleasant! Or not?

He's going to war. Z war! Also today: that Barefoot Bandit kid gets his own feature film written by a hottie boombalottie, old grampa Disney needs some help from its hip and popular grandkid, and some Dragon Tattoo casting news.

We bet Christina Hendricks didn't expect to be told by Alexandra Wentworth that she and husband George Stephanopolous consider her to be a "girl crush." Either way, she took that story—and the constant talk about her figure—quite well!

Saddled with municipal debt, Newark Mayor Cory Booker proposes $600 million in budget cuts, including cutting funds for the purchase of toilet paper. "Call me Mr. Scrooge if you want, but there will be no Christmas decorations," Booker added.

Thanks to Jersey Shore, it's all about the guidos these days, and there are definitely a few yuks at their expense in "Staten Island Girls," a parody of Katy Perry's "California Gurls." The jokes are easy, but they're classic.

G4TV sent former Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood to cover the Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot & Trade Show. The best part? She's so little that assistants have to hold her up to counteract each weapon's recoil.

NYC's most popular Indian curry, phaal: so hot the chefs wear a protective mask. Sounds...good.

Bill Clinton is finally loved! By 61% of "national adults," at least, according to a new Gallup favorability poll. Meanwhile, 52% think favorably of Barack Obama, which is pretty good for someone currently managing America's broke, apocalyptic hellscape. [Image: AP]

In his new book The Zeroes: My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane, former magazine editor Randall Lane describes how Travolta's assistants freely admitted their employer's hair was fake when they demanded Lane's magazine redo a cover shoot.

Japan is so weird! Seriously. Well, not everything about Japan is weird, but some of their commercials/viral videos sure are—like this one, which appears to be a commercial for green tea that... makes you grow boobs? Video inside.

Ted Danson talked some trash about Larry David last night. Not only is he a crappy house guest and a germaphobe, but he won't let Ted be on the next season of Curb! Danson goes on, saying the show "sucks."

The NYT today offers some tips on how to make your vacation video just as exciting as the trip itself. Okay, yes, that's one approach. Or, a better option: never make a vacation video.

A talent show closed out last night's Psych and Dulé Hill's Gus performed a show-stopping tap routine. As a bonus, Timothy Omundson also joined in the dancing fun.

We will not be copacetic! The bedbug menace grows and grows every day, infesting various halls of industry and power. Their latest assault is on the written word. Yes, bed bugs have invaded publishing.