Sometimes blogs are useful for simply passing along something worthwhile. If you’re like me and enjoy dark humor, like The Onion, and can’t stand even the thought of Glenn Beck, then check out this video from Onion News Network.

— John Grooms

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CL music contributor Mike McCray sat down with NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr. before he jumped in the DJ Hero Chevy for the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday. There was a free demo of the game, which drops Oct. 27, for fans as well as a DJ Hero showdown between Martin + Mike after their interview (Video tomorrow).

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Before we get all entangled in politics and other “serious” news this week, take a moment to celebrate an important cultural anniversary. Forty years ago, the first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus first aired on the BBC.

Starring John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and animator Terry Gilliam. The show’s influence was enormous — some critics have called Monty Python the Beatles of comedy — and changed the way comedy artists and other performers approach their audiences. Monty Python pioneered the practice of teams of entertainers writing and performing their own material, as well as the acknowledgment, even celebration, of life’s absurdities through sheer, unrestrained silliness and surreal situational comedy.

Boundary-pushers from the get-go, the group’s popularity grew slowly at first, but by the time their syndicated TV show ended in 1974, they were countercultural heroes of a sort, and phrases and skits from the show had become part of the cultural vernacular. Members of Monty Python went on to make films such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Life of Brian, inspired the hit Broadway musical Spamalot, and, in Gilliam’s case, became a respected film director. Graham Chapman died of cancer in 1989; during occasional reunions, the other members of the group often come on stage holding an urn that supposedly contains Chapman’s ashes. Rather than go on and on about these comedic and cultural heroes, here are two of their most famous TV sketches. Note: Monty Python has its own YouTube channel.

— John Grooms

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Mellow Mushroom set up their mobile ovens in Uptown Charlotte today (Monday, Sept. 28) and treated everybody to a free slice. CL blogger, Mike McCray, talked with Mellow Mushroom’s Josh Weinstein about the event.

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The Sonia Sotomayor hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee keep bringing the rightwing crazies out of the shadows and into the light of day. Earlier, we told you about Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has the gall to imply that Sotomayor is a racist when his own racist behavior has been public knowledge for years and caused him to be rejected for a federal judgeship. Now, an organization which Sessions has praised, the rightwing nut, oops, activist group Citizens for Justice, has put out an anti-Sotomayor ad in which it claims that the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund — which Sotomayor belongs to (or “led,” as the ad erroneously claims) — “supports violent Puerto Rican terrorists.” The PRLDEF is, in fact, a well-known, completely mainstream civil rights advocacy group that focuses on things like employment discrimination and bilingual education. The CFJ ad really goes off the deep end when it also tries to link Sotomayor with “Obama’s buddy Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist who bombed American buildings in the seventies.” It’s so ludicrous, you’d think people would be ashamed to put out this kind of pure crap. But no. As ThinkProgress.com points out, Sen. Orrin Hatch, another member of the Judiciary Committee who has been critical of Sotomayor, supports the group, and was “a featured guest” at a fundraiser that collected $50,000 for CFJ, allowing the group to continue producing its outrageous commercials.

As the American right wing continues its ongoing mental breakdown, it seems that everyone they disagree with is now destined to be called a “terrorist,” or at least a “supporter of terrorism.” There’s sometimes a thin line between political zealotry and insanity (see: Nazi Germany). I’d say that unless the CFJ is the most cynical political organization in the U.S., its members are really getting close to crossing that line. Here’s the ad in question:

— John Grooms

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By Matt Brunson

THE PROPOSAL
**1/2
DIRECTED BY Anne Fletcher
STARS Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds

After the stereotypical rom-com inanities of 27 Dresses, director Anne Fletcher partially redeems herself — as both an able filmmaker and a progressive woman — with her latest effort, The Proposal. Working with debuting screenwriter Pete Chiarelli, she’s managed to put out a picture that paints its heroine in one-dimensional strokes only part of the time.

True, The Proposal depicts protagonist Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) in the same manner as most Hollywood flicks (see New in Town for another recent example): Because she’s a career woman, she has no time for friends, lovers, hobbies or, apparently, even a rascally Rabbit (the battery-powered kind, that is). She’s a ruthless, soulless workaholic, and the only reason Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) works as her assistant at a New York publishing house is because he figures it’s a good career move. But when it looks as if Margaret will get shipped back to her Canadian homeland because of an expired visa, it appears as if his future will similarly get derailed. Margaret, though, has a plan: Force Andrew to marry her so that she can remain in the country. He reluctantly agrees, and they spend a long weekend in his Alaskan hometown so she can win over his parents (Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson) and 90-year-old grandmother (Betty White).

That these two will eventually fall for each other will come as a surprise to absolutely no one — not even your own 90-year-old grandmother — yet the predictability of the plot isn’t a detriment, since the film fits as comfortably around our expectations as a favorite old robe hugs our frame. And while the picture occasionally goes out of its way to make Bullock’s character a ninny, the actress refuses to let the role manhandle her, and she and the ever-charming Reynolds work well together. Furthermore, their characters’ relationship is rare in that it offers an older woman-younger man hookup that’s generally a nonentity in mainstream fare (Bullock’s 44 while Reynolds’ 32) and then goes the extra mile by never making their age difference a running, tittering gag at Margaret’s expense.

Unfortunately, Fletcher and Chiarelli can’t help but go for the easy, imbecilic laugh at several key junctures, and the film even stoops so low as to include one of those cringe-worthy moments in which a person declares his devotion to his beloved in front of a crowd of people — honestly, has this ever happened in real life, or do I simply hang out in the wrong coffeehouses/offices/parks/stores? Still, this Proposal has enough merit to warrant some consideration.

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Ms. Taken, a company that makes fake diamond rings for ladies to wear to fend of puke-inducing men, has an official You Tube video. Here is their response to Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg’s SNL “Jizz in My Pants” song. It reminds me of an expression my friend and I used to use — “PIMM!” (which stands for Puke In My Mouth).

And here are the lyrics for your enjoyment:

Douchebags all across the club
Ladies’ night straight poppin’ the bub
Stalker eyes right above his drink
Cheese-dick style, with a shoot and wink
Snatch the ring from its hiding place
Flip the bird right in your face
Leave the bar, to escape your glance
Cross the room, now its time to dance
You sneak behind, don’t mind, I guess
Until your dance on my cocktail dress
Cold as ice, yet you advance
And say you might, jizz in your pants
and I PUKE IN MY MOUTH
Swallow it back, I need some room
Plus I said I’ve got a groom
I turn away, you start to pout
AND I PUKE IN MY MOUTH
You ruined my night, esophagus hurts,
Take a hint, I’m not here to flirt
Round up the girls, its time bounce
Now I’ll go brush my teeth

I’m 15 late for my Yoga class
Kick through the door, now I’m up in that ass
Find a spot, last in the room
Focus, breathe, now its time to ohhhhmmmm
Thats when I noticed this guy behind me
Quite a big smell from a guy so tiny
Pit-stained T-shirt drenched in sweat
O-face grin, bad as it gets
He made a grunt, then his body turned
Saw up his shorts to his inner-thigh perm
AND I PUKED IN MY MOUTH
Upside-down, so it’s even worse
Son of Shiva, what a curly curse
Help me please, I could use a towel cause I
PUKED IN MY MOUTH
Why are there dudes up in Yoga class?
Nonchalant, looking at my chest
Please stop staring when I’m on my knees
Plus bearded men shouldn’t wear capris
Last week, I was on a site
As I recall, it was a Facebook site
In my bed with a piece of toast
Checked my wall and saw your post and I
PUKE IN MY MOUTH
Soaking in the tub like a f***ing queen
Need to relax, need to feel the steam
A bubble comes up that reminds me of you and I
PUKE IN MY MOUTH
The next day, I put on jeans and PUKED IN MY MOUTH
I opened the fridge and a fruit rolled out, I PUKED IN MY MOUTH
When I saw Tom Cruise in Valkyrie I PUKED IN MY MOUTH
I drank a Kombucha and I PUKED IN MY MOUTH
I just felt PUKE IN MY MOUTH
I puke right in my mouth, every time you’re next to me
And when you spit your game, it’s like a train wreck to me
You’re such a royal douche, I don’t know why you step to me
Forget a rubber, you should go get a vasectomy
PUKE IN MY MOUTH…

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Is this supposed to make me WANT to buy Fornarina?

Here’s a note from The Superficial:

NOTE: For those of you unable to watch video, just imagine a talking skeleton surrounded by the shittiest 80s music and graphics you can think of. Then again, you’re probably light years ahead of what I just saw. You lucky bastards.

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This song is dedicated to our editor Carlton Hargro, who went Twitter crazy.

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I don’t know how this Cadbury ad sells chocolate, but it’s pretty entertaining. The girl is kinda freaky.

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