This time tomorrow, I'll be in Reno and will be there for a few days. I'm going to the rib cookoff again, but this time, they are hosting an official IFOC eating competition to see who can eat the most ribs in 12 minutes. Whew, that's going to be gross and mesmerizing.

I saw Snakes on a Plane last week. While there's plenty wrong with it, there's oh so much right with it. It's stupid fun and that's just great for the summer.

First off, those of you reading this before 5 pm local time Wednesday have an opportunity to get a free brownie square courtesy of Domino's Pizza. Brownies at Domino's? Yeah, I'm a little skeptical too, which means you should go get one and taste it for me. Offer's good from 3-5 pm.

A solemn farewell to some veteran cast members at SNL. They didn't have their one of their best seasons ever last year, but the people that made it worth watching are leaving. Budget cuts and new opportunities are to blame. Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch were already leaving due to their new show "30 Rock". Among those leaving according to a source talking to the LA Times include Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Kenan Thompson. Even Darrell Hammond might be leaving. Plus Amy Poehler won't be doing Weekend Update solo...she hands the reins of the segment to second-year player...damn, even I don't recognize his name. So we might be in for a bad season at SNL, possibly just as bad as '95.

My Tivo's been running hella slow lately. It seems to stem from the new update that added a KidZone feature to the box. But now running through the guide or even getting to the recorded programs are a chore. Luckily, Tivo Desktop got an upgrade, and that seems way better than before.

The Wizard (Rain Man but with little kids) came out on DVD yesterday to much fanfare by me and me alone. Was it chock full with special features? Hell no. Just the movie itself...the simple tale of a boy who races with his brother cross-country (ok, from Utah to LA with a pit stop in Reno, but their little kids! Seems like cross-country) to the video game championship "Video Armageddon" where they play fellow gamers for $50,000. But since the only copy I have was recorded from TV on NBC, the DVD is an upgrade. Really, the movie shaped my childhood along with many others. What else? Star Trek and Star Wars are obvious, as are The Karate Kid, Trading Places and Coming to America, but there are some far more obscure. Spaceballs, a movie in which I can name almost every line as they came along. Three Amigos and Clue, two movies which were very funny even if the critics didn't think so. Over the Top, with Sylvester Stallone in a remake of Kramer vs. Kramer, but with arm wrestling. Bloodsport, with Jean-Claude Van Damme at his finest as he competes in an underground kumate. No Retreat, No Surrender Part II because the whole thing was very pointless. Didn't list Part I since that one was halfway decent. Plus, there's Tremors, the great cult classic about underground Graboids. It spawned 3 less than zero sequels, but there's always the original to fall back.

Yes, a very troubling childhood when it comes to films. And that was just a partial list! That's what happens when your parents own a video store.

Left-handers rejoice! Left-handed men with some college education make an average 15% more than similarly educated right-handed men. It's even better for those with college degrees...they make a whopping 26% more. Why? Scientists don't have a clue. "We do not have a theory that reconciles all of these findings." We're just better than them I guess.

Also, according to vault.com, 32% of office workers claim to have an office spouse, someone with whom they spend a lot of time with but never have a romantic relationship with. That number seems awfully low to me, but hey that's just me being overly observant.

Welcome back. I was in Vegas for the first part of last week to catch the World Series of Poker among other things. My brother took a separate flight out of SFO and I took the flight out of San Jose. He was supposed to get in 15 minutes earlier than I was, but while my flight was 10 minutes early, his was 90 minutes late. So I watched the same 5-minute commercial in baggage claim multiple times waiting for the plane to land. The slot machines standing next to me didn't really entice me that much.

We stayed at the Aladdin, which is transforming into the Planet Hollywood Hotel. So each of the rooms had a middle eastern theme which clashed with prints of Hollywood movies. Our room had posters of 12 Monkeys, Gone with the Wind, and Basic Instinct 2 (???). But the weirdest part of the room was the prop of a gorilla mask from the movie Congo, which came out in the 1990's. So while 5 out of the 6 people in our party enjoyed having the mask, only one person did not and as a result, was not part of the picture above.

Not much to be said about the food. The Bellagio buffet was worse than last time. Maybe it was because it was a weekday and not a weekend. Might as well have gone out with the lunch crew at work...Jenn called about lunch and I guess I neglected to tell her I was in Vegas. Whoops...sorry! However, the Mirage buffet was just as good as I remembered. This weekend 9 years ago was the first time the family went to Vegas and my grandparents came along. They'd been there before and told us all about it. My grandpa is a man of few words but when the topic of dinner came up, he said we're going to the Mirage buffet. We said fine. We were standing in line when suddenly my grandpa said, "over here...prime rib #1." He said that quite a few times and that line stuck with us, because honestly, it was pretty good. Today, the prime rib is still just as good, plus they remodeled the place.

Lost about $60 gambling. Not too bad, considering it takes less than a few hours to make it back by working. The last blackjack dealer I had actually grew up in Sunnyvale, living on Fair Oaks and El Camino. So we talked about that while she was taking my bankroll $10-20 at a time. I did manage to make $3 on video poker in the airport before my plane departed. At the WSOP, saw a lot of poker celebrities. Phil Hellmuth Jr., Robert Varkonyi, Joe Hachem, Johnny Chan, Jennifer Harman among others. Minh Ly seemed to be following us...we saw him in 3 separate locations during our stay. They played down to 27. We were there when 32 and 31 were knocked out. Don't know if the camera angles were good but we were right behind the guy who was knocked out in 32nd, so look out for me on TV! Only disappointing part of the trip was that I didn't have time for Star Trek: The Experience. Last rumor from a few months ago was that it was slated to close. The Hilton folks deny it, but last year, it was starting to look a bit old. At the very least, it needs an expensive makeover. I'm relieved that I made it out of the airport before all the drama in the UK. Remember, no liquids...if you do have liquid explosives, please make sure you have it with your checked baggage and not your carry-on bags. =)

Random question...if you order nachos with various toppings like beans and beef, etc. but no cheese, are they still considered nachos? I would think they'd be just plain tortilla chips with various toppings.

Nancy had a second interview at Applied Materials but she was eventually rejected. Better luck tomorrow. It's a good experience for her. I think she has a vastly different picture of the real world than the rest of us do.

At work, we went to Marie Callender's for lunch on Friday. First thing I noticed was that they don't serve Boston Cream pie anymore. What the f---? That was my favorite. Is it some kind of secret item now? Then we were seated and waiting when this out-of-town gentleman walked in and was offered a booth. He sat down and then the booth caved in, sending him to the floor while making a really huge scene. Not wanting to stare, I looked the other direction while he was yelling at the waiter. All of us played it cool except for JaSondra, who could keep it under control for all of 2 seconds, even saying "don't laugh" right before she burst out laughing.

On Saturday, it was my cousin Sarah's birthday and it was a princess theme. They had costumes and stuff for the little ones, but for my niece, they gave her a wig. Oh, to have hair, since she still barely has any.

Yesterday was the company picnic in Santa Cruz. I kinda overslept but I still managed to get there before 10. No traffic that way. Even saw Hi-Mey there, who didn't tell me he knew one of the employees' daughters. After killing in air hockey, it was time to eat. At the end of the meal, I was taking a big bite of ice cream when Ginny called out my name. I had won a raffle prize and cheers went into the air. That's pretty rare...calling my name and cheers at the same time. I figured out I won free laser tag, something that was already free a couple of hours earlier...big whoop. Saw a few ppl there including Steve and his girlfriend. Seems nice enough and acts like me in that she's pretty quiet. Not much has changed since I was there last (6...7 years ago?). The best is always the haunted house because you'll always have one kid crying his eyes out not wanting to hop onto the car. Today's kid was a doozy. He held onto the bars outside the haunted house really tight while screaming until his face turned red. It took about 3 relatives to pry him off and out into the open.

Funtimes.

Happy Birthday Jeanette! May this one be the best one yet.

In a few hours, I'll be on board a flight to Vegas to catch the last remnants of the World Series of Poker. When we planned this thing, there was supposed to be 300 people left and it'd be whittled to 27 by the time I left. At last count, there were just 160 people left, the combination of lousy play and a rush to cash out after the money bubble burst. But I'm sure there's plenty of other things to do there. I heard there's this thing called gambling...you put an amount of money on a table and you may or may not get more money back. Sounds like fun.

Caught Little Miss Sunshine the other night. The backstories of the family aren't too interesting but it builds up to what can only be described as an interesting journey from New Mexico to California to attend a kids' beauty pageant. The interaction of all the family members in one VW van makes it worth watching right up to the disturbing yet hilarious ending.

Citizen Kane it is not, but "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" shakes off a rough beginning to be a consistently entertaining film. Will Ferrell is Ricky Bobby, a pit crew member who gets his chance to lead the team when its driver suddenly quits. Soon, Bobby is winning every race and is enjoying the limelight with his best friend Cal (John C. Reilly) and his new wife Carley (Leslie Bibb). New competition from a gay Frenchman (Sasha Baron Cohen) and a devastating crash leaves Bobby psychologically unable to compete. His life is in shambles as Cal has gone on to marry Carley, the team has fired him, and he's forced to move back home to his mother as a pizza delivery guy. It takes his father and others to motivate him to go back into racing.

The first 30 minutes seems to suffer from lengthy scenes that could be shortened. But once Bobby's life is in the pits, the movie starts to find its groove with plenty of laughs and some good lines. Director Adam McKay balances the comedic lives of Ricky Bobby and company with the authenticity of NASCAR racing to great results. But the amazing part is that pretty much every character has something to laugh about starting with Ferrell and Reilly but even going down to Michael Clarke Duncan, Gary Cole, and the kids. It's something to see for yourself.