What can we say, people? Just one day after our blog challenge to help us at Various Things & Stuff (along with our colleague Jon Ralston) beat our other colleague George Knapp in KNPR-FM 89.5’s online auction, you did it!

A mystery bidder has driven the price of lunch with yours truly and Ralston to — as of this writing — $550! That’s well ahead of the $390 that Knapp is fetching. Needless to say, we’re also still smoking all the other media celebrities who have graciously donated their time for lunch with lucky bidders, including Review-Journal gossip columnist Norm Clarke ($220); blogger, Las Vegas Weekly columnist and podcaster Steve Friess ($160); and R-J Online Guy Al Gibes ($110). We have even rocketed in front of foodie and raconteur John Curtas ($350)!

Woo-hoo! We’re No. 1!

Now, we know this is not a competition, by which we mean to say this is totally a competition, and we’re in it to win it! Now is no time to rest on your laurels, political junkies! This may be your only chance to have lunch with both us and Ralston, outside of buying a couple of hot dogs outside Lowe’s and hoping we’ll show up. (We will, trust us.)

The auction closes on Saturday, so keep those bids coming in! (All proceeds from the auction go to keep the fine programs of KNPR — including State of Nevada, the in-depth public affairs show about our home — on the air for years to come. So dig deep, make those pledges and keep us on top!

UPDATE: And we just learned that Clarke is shamelessly trying to bribe auction participants, offering a free copy of his book Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales and a free Norm! bobblehead doll! Say it isn’t so, Norm! Will you stop at nothing to win? Even with the bribes, however, we’re still ahead. And while we don’t have a book or a bobblehead to offer, we do offer delightful lunchtime conversation. Plus, we’ll throw in a free copy of Ralston’s book, The Anointed One. We didn’t ask him if that would be OK, but we understand there are still some rare unsold copies lying around. It’s a dark tale of mysterious forces conspiring to put a totally inexperienced man into the governor’s office. Shockingly, this man — sans elected experience mind you — is 1 billion times better than the current ass-clown who rules from Carson City.