• Political pop quiz: The first name of the Democratic candidate running for lieutenant governor is:

a.) Brian

b.) Bob

c.) Bill

d.) Beatrice

e.) none of the above

Answer is below. No peeking!

• We’re sorry we’ve been out of the loop on the blog, readers. We’ve been stuck in training sessions, learning to use a new whiz-bang computer system that should make producing CityLife much easier.

Unfortunately, it’s more complex than our simple system now. And, to make matters worse, they’re forcing us to switch from delightful, user-friendly Apple Macintosh computers to evil, Bill Gates inspired PCs! Damn the preventers of information technology!

So we’ll be in and out of the blogosphere until that situation gets squared away, which should be soon. Until then, can we tempt you with a few Quick Hits?

• According to today’s Review-Journal, state tax revenue has exceeded expectations, growing by 11.5 percent and topping $3 billion in the most recently ended fiscal year. Some analysts, however, are seeing a slowdown in certain sectors.

But given that revenues are up, can we dispense with this tax talk in the governor’s race? A tax increase appears to be totally unnecessary at this point, and thus won’t likely be an issue for the person elected in November.

So now what will Republican Jim Gibbons use to bash Democrat Dina Titus? Her accent?

• It’s so cute when the capitalists strive to outdo each other. We at Various Things & Stuff would probably be content with a lot less than $20.5 billion, the estimated wealth of Venetian casino developer Sheldon Adelson. That money landed up in the No. 3 spot on Forbes 400 list, behind Bill Gates ($53 billion) and Warren Buffett ($46 billion). But Adelson wants to be No. 1, and he’s counting on his casinos in Macau to help him get there.

“I would set that as a goal, and I think that’s achievable. I’ve already figured out when I’m going to be No. 2 and No. 1,” he said.

You know, that must be why Adelson is rich: Sure, he’s sitting on a fortune that’s the equivalent of 1,913,741 minimum wage earners’ yearly salary. But he’s not content! Oh, no, he won’t rest until Gates is asking him for a loan!

Ah, capitalist earning games. We think they should be an Olympic sport!

• Quotable: “Jim Gibbons has been representing one congressional district for 10 years, and never once has he insulted Nevadans in other parts of the state.” — Robert Uithoven, campaign manager for Gibbons, on remarks made by Titus about Northern Nevadans.

Oh, really? Gibbons has never insulted anybody in Nevada? He’s never insulted, say, “liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals” by suggesting they could serve as human shields in Iraq?

What’s that? He was talking about Hollywood liberals, not Nevada liberals in that quote, which was plagiarized from the Alabama state auditor?

Oh. Well, OK, then.

• TV time! On this week’s Political Insiders, you’ll hear from Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury on the eminent domain-limiting PISTOL initiative, as well as a sure-to-be-spirited discussion of the first gubernatorial debate between Gibbons and Titus, and other top issues. Tune in at 11:30 p.m. Saturday or 5 p.m. Sunday on KTNV Channel 13.

And if you just can’t get enough, we’ve got more! We’ll be guest hosting for Mitch Fox on this week’s Nevada Week in Review. Guests are Jon Ralston, Review-Journal political columnist Erin Neff, Las Vegas Sun political writer J. Patrick Coolican and Stephens Media LLC executive and weekly R-J columnist Geoff Schumacher. That show airs at 7:30 p.m. tonight, 7:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Sunday.

• And finally today, the answer to our political pop quiz: Bob Unger is running for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket. We screwed up his name in a recent post. Thanks to commentor Katie for alerting us to the mistake.